


The Curse of a Clan || 『 一族の呪い 』

by chckn_9790



Series: ハルナ 外伝 3部作 | Haruna Gaiden Trilogy [1]
Category: Naruto, anime - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Gen, Naruto AU, Platonic Relationships, Post-Naruto Time Skip | Naruto Shippuden, Post-Shippuden, Pre-Shippuden, Violence, non-canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-31 13:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 22
Words: 74,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8579920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chckn_9790/pseuds/chckn_9790
Summary: What if you have spent your entire young life hating the ones you were forced to call family, and one day you're offered the chance at revenge? Would you take it?   ❝ hear me out, would you? i think it will prove very beneficial to you...you, who is so full of hatred and wishes to destroy everyone who's ever belittled you. If you come with me, I can give you all the power you'll ever need to destroy anyone you wish. ❞**ongoing editing**⦏ naruto au with oc ⦐{fair warning to those who have not yet finished the manga/anime: spoilers follow.}





	1. Prologue: 歴史 (History)

Long ago, a humble village sat atop a small hill in the Land of Mountains. It was named the Mountain Village. The land was peaceful and tranquil, and all who lived there did so in harmony. Children were free to roam and play as they pleased, their parents never needing to worry for their safety--for the village was safe and well-protected. For many, it was a place of rest and of family; a precious home to return to.

However, due to the amount of conflict and bloody battles that occurred on that land in the wake of the Third Great Shinobi War, the village was tragically destroyed--along with all who lived there. The once dream-like town had been completely obliterated and left in ruins. Legend has it that no one survived. However, in reality, that is not the case.

The Feudal Lord of the Land of Mountains, who resided near that particular village at the time, was furious and heartbroken seeing his land become one of the main battlegrounds in the war, namely for the Hidden Sand and Leaf villages. Before calamity could strike them too severely, he, along with his wife and only son, escaped into the forest with many young children and several shinobi from the village, barely making it out alive. After the war ended, he locked down the Land of Mountains to all outsiders, and he and his son, who was barely eighteen at the time, built a brand new village in between the two tallest mountains in all the land: Mount Tonbo and Mount Kichona. It then became known as the Village Hidden in the Valley, as it was protected by the strength of Kichona-san and Tonbo-san while being safely hidden away between them. In fact, it was so well-hidden that no one outside of the village even knew it existed. As the previous village had been destroyed, everyone assumed there was no one left. But as we find out, they had all been mistaken.

And that is precisely how the very first Yamakage-- also known as the former Feudal Lord of the Land of Mountains--wanted it to be. Taking reference from the Hidden Leaf's village structure, he completely transformed the laws and customs of the land. Knowing they would need protection and manpower if they were to continue to survive, he retrained everyone, from the smallest child to the older, high-ranking, experienced _Jonin_ to protect the village's secret even if it cost them their lives. _The village's Secret must always come first, even before the life of a comrade._ In order to keep those he loved safe, the First Yamakage enforced these strict rules and drilled these harsh ideals into his people's heads. Though many disagreed with him, they also realized that these practices would ultimately save their lives, and eventually adopted them. Those who didn't, however, were tossed out like traitors and banned from ever returning. Such was the necessity, if peace was to be maintained.

Due to the First Yamakage's teachings, the village grew in strength, power, and prosperity, right underneath the Five Great Nations' noses. Every day, dozens of children and adults were trained in the Ninja Arts: _Ninjutsu, Genjutsu,_ and _Taijutsu._ They honed their skills and grew more and more powerful; more and more capable of defending their village and livelihood. Overtime, many other people came to the village and were accepted; village defects, homeless travelers, those who sought to start anew. The Yamakage would welcome them with open arms so long as they swore allegiance.

The First Yamakage was pleased, and when his son turned twenty-seven, he passed the village onto him, and later died. The Second Yamakage bore one son as well, and when he turned twenty-two, he would pass the village onto him. All the while, each respective leader imparted this teaching onto the people: that the strength to defend the village and protect its secret is the key element of a Valley Shinobi.


	2. 山影の娘 (The Yamakage's Daughter)

Deep in the lush forest of the Land of Grass lies an underground fortress. Its only entrance is a single foreboding stairwell leading down from the light, stretching deep into the belly of darkness. No one unwanted will enter; no one wanted will leave.

Further inside, it becomes harder to see, but gently-flickering candles light the way, evenly spaced on the wall and stretching as far as the eye can see. On either side of this wall there are hundreds of doors leading to perils unknown, and the seemingly endless hall curves and branches as it proceeds deeper underground. It's like an unsolvable maze; the further you venture in, the closer you are to your death.

In the heart of the fortress is a certain room: The room from which the inhabitant reigns over his territory. Two forms cast flickering shadows across the otherwise barren walls. One of them folds his arm across his chest. "What will we do...now that our initial plan has fallen through?"

The other man sits on a small throne, his chin leaned on his fist. His other fist clenches in frustration and he lets out a grunt, a sigh. "I suppose we will have to find someone else," he grumbles. "But who else could there be? I wanted  _him_." His fist impacts the arm of the chair, making his servant flinch.

Despite the servant's reaction, he remains calm. "I understand your frustration, my lord. However, I believe I may have found someone you might be just as satisfied with."

"Hmm?" comes the inquisitive reply. "Well, who is it then?"

The servant curves his lips into an satisfied smile, pleased to have caught his master's interest. "Legend has it that there is a girl with an extremely rare power that no one on the planet has ever seen. Apparently it made quite a stir in her village when it first manifested. The story goes that she disappeared from her village when she was six years old, never to be found again. Some even say she died. However, I did some snooping around, and it turns out she's alive and well."

A intrigued smile creeps onto the master's face. "That does sound interesting. Do you think you could find her for me?"

"Already done." The servant pushes his glasses up his nose, the lenses glinting over even in the low light. "I can bring her to you within the week."

"Ah, diligent as ever, I see," he chuckles. "As usual, you've set everything up perfectly." After a moment of silent thought, the master sits up straight and responds. "Yes, do bring her here. I would love to see if this so-called  _special power_  lives up to its reputation."

"Your wish is my command, my lord."

"Of course it is," the man hisses. "Now—I will need you back here rather shortly, so we can carry out our _other mission_. Be sure to stay on schedule, or we will lose precious time."

"Whatever you say, my lord. Don't worry. Have I ever failed you before?"

The servant bows and leaves the room. The master rests his chin on his fist again and smirks terribly. He is hungry for power, and it would seem he is about to have his fill.

***************************************

When the sun shines in May, they say that the rays it pours down onto the world below are its purest. Legends speak of angels that descend to the earth during that special month, decorating it in dazzling color. Green grass of the deepest green, bright pink and orange flowers, crystal clear blue skies, and flourishing, healthy brown soil. It is quite a sight indeed.

Late spring in the Village Hidden in the Valley is no different. The grass, the trees, the plants, and even the people are full of lively color and spirit. But it's not only because of the bright sunshine. The citizens of the village are always happy, always smiling, always looking forward to the days ahead. They love their home and take good care of it. They trust in their leader to keep them safe, because they know that the Hidden Valley Village is the safest village in the world. No one knows where it is or that it even exists, and they all flourish because of that simple fact.

The Third Yamakage, the leader of the village, is a strong man with a kind heart and a smile that could light up the night sky. His name is Akihiko Tonbo. He had become the Yamakage when he was quite young, but no one doubts his ability to keep the village's precious secret safe, like his father before him. His daughter, whom he had adopted three years prior, is a Genin in the Valley Village; a young kunoichi with a strong will and promising talent. He is very proud of her, and loves her deeply, as a father should. Though she is the quiet type who often keeps to herself, Akihiko has grown rather fond of her over the past three years.

Nine-year-old Haruna is the daughter of the village's leader. Some like to endearingly call her the village's princess--a title she vehemently rejects. With long hair like midnight and lavender eyes, it really is no wonder people would refer to her as a princess. Though she is of such a young age, she is quite mature, after having lost her mother at the age of six. She never knew her real father, for he had died only a few days after she was born, or so she had been told. Haruna is quiet and no-nonsense, but little do they know that she has a soft spot for the two "idiots" as she frequently refers to them, on her team.

"I'm here!--Masumi Sensei--aruna, Masaki... sorry I'm late--again..."

A young boy of Haruna's age, with short blonde hair and a rounded baby face, comes rushing up to her, panting profusely as he attempts to apologize with what little air he has in his lungs. It is the day of their first B-rank mission since becoming Genin eleven months prior, and it is already starting off wrong.

"Toshio-kun, seriously?" The other boy, Masaki, stands beside Haruna, his arms folded over his chest. His shoulder length chesnut hair is tied back at the nape of his neck, the long ponytail lifting in the breeze. "We've been waiting here for fifteen minutes now."

"We should have left already," tuts Masumi, a tall, bulky woman with a fairly attractive face. She is their sensei and the head Jounin of the village.  "I'm getting sick and tired of your tardiness!"

"I-I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Toshio babbles, bowing aggressively at his teacher and comrades. "I-I just happened upon a stray cat along the way, and he was really hungry-"

Haruna, although inwardly amused by Toshio's antics, simply sneers in his direction, agreeing with the others. She carefully fixes the bangs she keeps over her forehead and shifts her weight to the other foot. "Now that he's here, can we get going?" she interrupts the younger male, rolling her eyes.  _A stray cat,_ she laughs to herself.  _It's always something different with him._

"Yes, we should," Masaki agrees in exasperation as he shakes his head at Toshio.

"It's our first B-rank mission and you're late!" Masumi Sensei is still scolding the boy. "Do you even realize how important this mission is to the village's safety? Come on, move it!" she snaps, taking off down the road and jumping onto the first rooftop she comes to.

Haruna frowns and follows after her, the two boys exchanging glances as they take off as well.

"What even...  _is_ our mission?" Haruna hears Toshio mutter behind her as they hop from roof to roof, their arms spread out behind them. She closes her eyes for just a moment, completely flabbergasted by the incompetence of her teammate.

"Don't let Masumi Sensei hear you ask that," Masaki warns, his irritated tone of voice perfectly exhibiting Haruna's own level of impatience for the youngest member of the team. "Were you not listening last night when she and Lord Yamakage told us about it?"

"Well...," Toshio begins, and is cut off by Haruna, who already knows the answer.

"The Barrier Building, remember? It got ransacked by someone. Someone who managed to  _infiltrate the village._ Do you not realize how big of a deal that is?"

"Of course I do," the youngest sulks. "I just temporarily forgot what we were doing, is all..."

"Right, because you were too busy making up a lame excuse for being late, like feeding a starving cat," Masaki retorts flatly. Haruna lets out a scoff, nodding in agreement.

"I--hey!" the blonde yells indignantly. "It wasn't an excuse, I--"

"Enough bickering; we're here," Masumi Sensei growls. The four are now standing at the base of the western Kichona Mountain, at the entrance to the Secret Safe Area, as well as the Barrier Building above. To any normal person, the entrance would be invisible, as it is perfectly blended in with the rest of the rock. In fact, it  _is_  the rock--and the only way to enter is with a special Earth Style Jutsu.

Masumi folds her hands in the signs Tiger, Snake, Horse, and Dog before muttering " _Release_ _._ " The side of the mountain begins to quiver and rumble as a door-shaped piece of its stone slowly sinks down into the earth. The mountain opens up and Team Masumi steps inside.

"I've never been in here before," Toshio remarks as he takes a look around the massive, hollow room in awe. Behind him, Masumi repeats the hand seals and the "door" closes back up again. Haruna stands beside her and watches.

"Wasn't this supposed to be used in case of attack?" Masaki inquires, studying their Sensei carefully while she seals the mountain closed again.

"You're right; it was. So were the Barrier Buildings." Masumi smiles at her work and turns around, looking around as well.

Haruna knows this place well. She remembers a time four years ago; the night she had been rescued by the Yamakage. Another village had found out about the Valley Village and attempted to infiltrate it and take it over. However, her step-father and step-grandfather acted fast and moved every single villager and shinobi into the Secret Safe Areas while together, they cast a Genjutsu over the village, causing the enemies to believe that there was nothing out here but deserted land. During that time, Haruna had also been inside the Safe Area inside this very mountain, squished against a wall by the other villagers who paid her no mind. They had only been concerned for their own well-being, and little Haruna, who had just lost her mother, was very much alone. Being inside the Safe Area once again stirs up painful memories for Haruna, whose mood has suddenly dropped incredibly. She lags behind the team and reluctantly trudges along, silently stewing in her grief as Masumi continues.

"The Barrier Buildings, as you should know, both hold the secret scrolls needed for the Barrier Jutsu that protects the village in case of a threat," Masumi is rambling as she leads her students up the winding staircase found in the back of the Safe Area's main room. "It also holds several other scrolls containing information and other jutsu vital to the village."

Haruna's head hangs low and her eyes sting as she fights tears. Though it has been four years, she still cannot get over the death of her mother.  _And why did I have to come to this stupid mountain, anyways?_   She angrily asks no one.  _Why did Father send me here? Did he forget? Does he not care about my feelings?_

"Weren't there people guarding the Barrier Buildings, Masumi Sensei? What happened to them?" Toshio asks.

Try as she might, Haruna cannot fight the tear that slips down her cheek as they turn and climb the next and final staircase. Her steps are even slower and heavier now, and her hand only lightly brushes against the rail. She doesn't need it to climb the stairs, but she feels the need to touch  _something_ , as if she can pass on her sorrow to it instead.

"There were people guarding, yes, but Lord Yamakage said that...."

"Hey. Haruna."

Haruna stops dead in her tracks and snaps her head up to find she's face-to-face with Masaki, who is staring at her with wide, concerned eyes.

"What," she mumbles bitterly, tearing her gaze away from his after a brief moment and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.  _He better not have seen me cry,_ she says to herself.

"Are you okay?" he asks, his voice gentle and full of concern.

Haruna huffs, staring at him at last, her lavender eyes shining with unshed tears. "Yes," she lies, "why would you ask that?" her voice is level, but flat, as she suppresses her sadness once again. Though she has known him and been friends with him since she came to the village, she has never fully trusted him. Or anyone else, for that matter--not even her own step-father.

"Come on, I can tell something's bothering you. What is it?" Masaki presses her, his stare never wavering.

Haruna studies him for a moment and considers opening up and telling him. But why should she do that?  _He doesn't need that._ She shakes her head at him.  _He doesn't care._ "No, I'm fine," she insists, and moves to walk around him and up the rest of the stairs.

But Masaki surprises her. He grabs her hand as she passes him and stops her. Haruna freezes, the feeling of Masaki's warm hand over hers oddly comforting. "You don't need to do that, you know," he says to her, turning to face her. He gives her the warmest, kindest smile Haruna thinks she's ever seen in her life, and her eyes widen just a little. "You and I are on the same team. We're comrades, so it's important that we stay on the same page. Toshio too. If there's something bothering you, you should tell us! That's what we're here for."

By now, Haruna's face is beet red. Slowly, she turns her face away and looks down, processing Masaki's words with care. Did he really mean that?  _It sure would be nice to actually have a friend or two,_ she admits to herself.

"We've been teammates for a year now, I think it's time you let us in," Masaki murmurs, squeezing her hand. "Think about it, will you?"

Haruna glances up again to see that he's still smiling, and Haruna can't help but smile back, just a little.

Masaki laughs sweetly and pulls her up the stairs the rest of the way, bringing her into the Barrier Room. For the first time in a very long time, Haruna feels her heart warm up a little, and without even realizing it, she lets this boy in. Finally, she makes her very first friend in the Valley Village: Kawashima Masaki.

\--

The Barrier Room looks as it always has: bare wooden walls and a floor, one single east-facing window, wooden beams in the ceiling. In the corner, a bundle of giant scrolls has been carelessly throw open, haphazardly left lying open in the middle of the floor. The circle in the middle of the floor that had been painted on in white looks untouched, but several of the once neatly stacked colored scrolls had been scattered across their shelves and the floor. Masumi carefully checks each scroll to make sure they're all accounted for while the other three survey the rest of the room. In the end, they don't find much.

"It seems as though they didn't take any of the scrolls," Masumi comments as she finishes rolling up the last scroll and placing it in its proper place on a high shelf, which she easily reaches. "Have you guys found anything?"

"It looks fine over here too," Masaki reports, checking the floor and walls for any traps. Haruna activates her  _Byakugan_ , which had only just recently awakened,and searches inside the walls for any hints the intruder may have left. Toshio stands by the window and stares out of it with a blank expression on his face.

"Well, then I guess there isn't much to report," Masumi Sensei decides with a frown. "I'm not sure why this mission was ranked as B if this is all there was to it."

"Well, it had the potential of becoming a B-rank, if there had been traps or if something had actually been stolen," Masaki smartly points out.

"That is true," Masumi agrees. "I suppose you're right."

Toshio, having finished his window-gazing, turns around and glances at the door they had come in. His eyes grow as big as dinner plates and suddenly he's hiding behind Haruna, tugging at her sleeve and pointing at the door in fear. Haruna stares at him inquisitively before following his finger. Her eyes also widen and she freezes in her spot, her eyes stinging as she does her best not to cry--or scream.

"...Although it sure is a bummer for you guys," continues Masumi, who is completely oblivious, "that your first B-rank mission ended up being more like a D-rank-"

"Eek!" Toshio screeches in fear, jumping to hide behind a bewildered Masaki. Masumi scowls when she is cut off, until she finally notices the snake slithering into the room, emitting a soft hiss.

Haruna, standing behind them all, is stuck in her place like a statue, her body trembling. She tries to shift her eyes away from the terrifying creature sliding across the ground, but is unable to even move them. The others seem to have no idea about her phobia of snakes.

"G-guys," Masaki yelps, reaching into the kunai pack on his thigh and slowly pulling out a knife. "It's just a harmless snake-"

"Agh! Masaki, don't kill it!" Toshio screeches, flailing his arm about, trying to stop Masaki from throwing the knife.

Haruna, whose  _Byakugan_  is still active, is completely unable to look away and stares the hideous reptile right in the eyes. All of a sudden, she finally notices it--what look to be words carved into the neck of the snake. Finally able to move her eyes, she lowers them enough to read the message those words formed:

_I found you._

At this, her senses instantly kick into overdrive. Her heart starts pounding heavily and quickly, her chest tightening. She squeezes her eyes shut as she begins to panic. The screaming and yelling around her dulls into a quiet murmur as she does her best to console herself despite the fact that her entire body is in a state of panic.

Suddenly, a loud thud is heard, and the screaming stops. Gentle arms are wrapped around her trembling frame, a soft breeze lightly brushing at her face. Masumi had killed the snake and now tries calming Haruna down by fanning her face and loosely holding her to keep her from falling. Slowly, Haruna regains her hearing, and her heart begins to settle.

After a moment, the Jounin lets go of her and begins to scold the three. "What were you two doing? You're ninja, for hell's sake! Ninja don't scream and flail around when they see a tiny, harmless snake!"

"We're sorry, Sensei," Toshio says in a small voice.

"Are you okay?" asks Masaki quietly, giving her a once-over. "What happened to you?"

Haruna slowly lifts her gaze to the boy beside her, a small sigh leaving her lips. She straightens, folding her arms over her chest. Still, says nothing.

Masumi lets out a huff. "Anyways," she says, her tone much calmer than just moments earlier, "I'm sorry nothing terribly exciting happened today; it's a real shame. Why don't I make it up to you? I'll buy you all dinner."

The boys gasp and squeal in delight, the youngest throwing his arms around the sensei, shouting at the top of his voice to show his utmost gratitude. Masumi, sweating a bit, gives him a pat on the head before extracting him from her large frame.

"W-well, now that everything's settled, I supposed we should go back and report to Lord Yamakage," she decides, adjusting her clothes. Straightening, she says to them, "Let's go!" and with that, she steps out of the door and the two boys follow after her--the elder lagging back to watch Haruna carefully.

The girl, still recovering, stares at the floor in silence, trying to make sense of what she had just seen.  _'I found you'...? That couldn't be for me,_  she reasons.  _That could have been anyone. We're just the ones who happened to be there._ Shuddering at the thought of the now-dead snake, she closes her eyes tightly as a new thought comes into her head.  _Maybe it was for one of the boys...?_  She thinks it over for a moment before denying it.  _No. There's no way those idiots would ever--_

"Haruna?"

Masaki's sudden word causes her to jump. She had forgotten he was there as she had become lost in her thoughts, and shoots him a glare for scaring her.

"What?" she asks defensively.

"Masumi Sensei's waiting," Masaki explains, looking at her in worry. "Are you okay, Haruna? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine," Haruna retorts immediately, and says nothing more on the subject, marching straight past the dark-haired boy and down the stairs.

Masaki, concerned for his teammate, silently follows behind her with a deep frown.


	3. 中忍選抜試験 (Chūnin Exams)

"...and other than that, there's nothing else to report," Masumi Sensei finishes. They are now standing in Lord Akihiko's office, the firey orange and deep pink shades of the sunset pouring into the large windows, giving the room a warm color. From behind his desk, the Yamakage smiles. First at the head Jounin, then at the genin boys, and finally, at his daughter; the smile growing when his gaze reaches the girl. He nods and accepts the report, folding his hands on his desk and leaning forward a bit.

"That's good, thank you, Masumi-San," he says, his rich voice full of relief. "I'm glad nothing too serious happened in there."

"So am I," Masumi nods. Her three students stand beside her quietly, two of them gazing at the Yamakage with admiring eyes.

Akihiko chuckles. "As for you three," he continues, addressing the Genin, "I have something to tell you. I have put all three of you in the Chunin Exams this year. They are one month from now, so you should start preparing right away."

"What! Really?" Toshio squeaks.

In unison with Toshio, Masaki asks, "The Chunin Exams?" just to be sure he heard correctly.

Haruna's eyes go wide, but she has nothing to say.

_The Chunin Exams...? Already...?_

"Lord Yamakage," Masumi politely protests, "are you sure these kids will be alright? They're only ten years old, and that forest is-"

"I know very well how the forest is," Akihiko calmly cuts her off. "However, I also know how talented these three are, and how strong they can be when they are put together in one group." The Yamakage gives Haruna a kind and knowing smile, indicating to her just who he's talking about.

Haruna, feeling unsure, looks away and fiddles with the hem of her shirt. She doesn't want to do the Chunin Exams this year. She wants to spend another year as a Genin with Masaki and Toshio, doing easy missions and eating Dango and sleeping in. She had just started to open up and make a real friend when her father springs this on her.

_Does he not care about my feelings?_

"Well...if you believe they are ready, then I suppose all we can do is believe in them," Masumi acknowledges, a small, proud smile on her face as well. "So starting tomorrow, you three will be doing some major training. These exams aren't a walk in the park, you know. There are going to be some real tough challenges out there. Some of you may not even make it out alive. You all need to be prepared for that."

Haruna swallows nervously. She doesn't like the sound of that...glancing at the boys, she can tell they don't either. They chat a bit about it as they walk out of the kage office, tense and fearful, but Sensei glances back at them. "Don't worry, you three. The Yamakage was right: You three are a good team. You may be young, but with some conditioning I think you three will do very well." Haruna stares at her feet as they walk, feeling torn. As much as she feels upset about being forced down this path...a part of her really desires to do well. To move ahead. To make her father proud. She hopes they do well. She's willing to do the training.

"Now, let's go to that restaurant," her Sensei continues. "Where did you want to go?" The boys shout out ideas before Haruna takes a breath and speaks up. "How about dumplings?"

"Yeah! Dumplings!" Toshio echoes, and it is decided. They make their way to their favorite dumpling shop, laughing all the way. Masumi-Sensei humors the excited kids and eventually they reach it; but before they can go in, Haruna sees a young, ruddy-faced brunette girl running towards them. She recognizes her as the Chunin Ishihara Yuuki.

"Masumi-Sensei! Shinji-San needs to speak to you! In the north sector!"

"Is there an issue?" She replies, suddenly all business. Haruna's stomach drops and she prepares for disappointment.

"He said it was urgent. That's all I know."

"Alright." She moves to follow Yuuki, but pauses. "Uhm, here." And she turns and hands them some money. "Go buy whatever you want. I'll catch up to you later."

Haruna smiles broadly and all three bow repeatedly as they accept the money and run into the store.

Before they know it they are sitting down, plates of dumplings on the table between them, and they are discussing the exams and some possible strategies for it around mouthfuls. Haruna sits beside Masaki at the table, with Toshio directly across from her, and sips her green tea, silently thinking over the message she had found inside that snake. What could it have meant? And was it for her? She stares deeply into her half-empty cup as she thinks, hardly even noticing when Toshio asks her a question.

_I fou_ _nd you._

"Haruna?"

Haruna snaps her head up and gapes at Toshio as his voice rips her from her thoughts. "What?"

Toshio blinks at her. Masaki stares at her worriedly.

"I was just asking you if you've heard of Obake Forest from your father," Toshio repeats himself slowly, looking at Haruna apprehensively.

Haruna clears her throat and sips her tea again before replying, gathering her thoughts again. "Obake Forest, huh...." Putting the weird snake incident behind her, Haruna decides to have a little fun with her teammates.

"Yeah, there've always been rumors floating around about it," Masaki continues. "I've heard that more often than not, half of the Genin who go into that forest for the exam...never come back out again."

Haruna smirks from behind her cup, setting it down carefully. "Half? That's pretty optimistic...." Her eyes glint evilly and she chuckles at Toshio, who reels back in fear.

"Yikes!" he squeaks, cowering away from Haruna.

Masaki side glances at her and rolls his eyes.

"I've heard that  _not even a third_  of the Genin survive," Haruna presses on, leaning closer to Toshio.

"N-n-not even...a third...?" Toshio gulps.

Masaki quietly takes a bite of a dumpling.

"That's right," Haruna smirks at him, leaned across the table, her voice terribly low. "And I've also heard that the forest is haunted...during the night, the souls of the fallen Genin come out and terrorize the new Chunin candidates..."

"G-g-g-ghosts?!?" Toshio shrieks, falling backwards out of his seat and onto his backside on the floor. Haruna laughs heartily and sits back down in her seat, flipping her hand in the air.

"I'm just kidding, you big baby," she wheezes, smacking her hand on the table as laughter continues to bubble up. "You actually fell for it? You're such a loser..."

"Hey, that's not fair, Haruna," Toshio whines as he picks himself up and plops back down in his seat with an indignant huff. "I'm easily scared, okay...."

"Well, if that's the case, you sure won't last long in that forest!" Haruna points a judging finger at him and starts laughing again. The laughter feels nice. It warms her heart once more. She looks at the pouting, grumpy Toshio and decides that she can trust him too. Beside her, Masaki chuckles softly, unable to hold in his laughter.

"Wow, you really are pathetic," he mumbles as he takes another sip of his tea.

"Hey! Not you too!"

Haruna smiles and looks between the two boys. For the first time since her mother left, she feels content and even just a little bit happy. This is where she belongs; she's sure of it. 

_\------_

_One Month Later_

For a day in the middle of June, it is especially cold. The sky above is gray and filled with heavy, threatening clouds. It feels like rain. And somehow, the dimness of the light seems to make the flourishing green colors of Obake forest abnormally blue. How is that possible? It could be a genjutsu.

But none of that matters. To navigate through this terrible forest and make it out alive is one's only goal. A goal that everyone is fighting tooth and nail to reach. Why? Because they're being examined. Tested. They're running this dreadful race in hopes of earning a promotion in rank: from lowest, to middle. The sad truth is, many will fail. Some might even die. But those who make it through this forest alive will at least have a chance of completing this race.

Haruna runs down the treacherous path, her two comrades at her sides. They speed through the forest with ease, their arms spread behind them as if they were wings. None of them (except, perhaps, the blonde one) are even vaguely concerned for their lives, despite their situation. The forest isn't scary to them.

Because they have  _her._

"Alright!" Toshio shouts. "It is day two in this stupid forest, and we're gonna find our way out and become Chunin by the end of the day!" Toshio's face is bright with a cheery, confident smile as he fearlessly runs along beside his comrades.

"Toshio!" Masaki, the calmer one, hisses at him, "lower your voice. Who knows what kind of things could pop up unexpectedly in this place?"

"Aw, Masaki," the younger boy pouts, "come on, I was just trying to boost our morale!"

"You can boost it all you want, but keep it down," Haruna says to Toshio. Her round lavender eyes partially hidden by dark bangs glance over at him, sending him a stern warning not to disobey her. "If we're going to make it out of here as fast as you claim we are, that will mean we'll have to avoid enemies. And the surest way to do that is to be quiet."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Toshio grumbles at her, his face drooping.

Masaki glances all around as a small noise catches his attention. His senses are on full alert. He ceases his running, skidding a bit on the dirt path, and stares in the general direction of the noise. "Haruna," he calls softly to the girl, "I sense something."

The other two stop immediately after him, freezing in their tracks. Toshio becomes frightened and hides behind the eldest, who instinctively holds her arm out to protect him.

"Where should I look?" Haruna asks softly, staring at Masaki inquisitively.

Masaki points straight ahead of them and whispers, "There. Do you see that weird castle-like thing up ahead? I thought I heard a groan or a whine come from it..."

Haruna nods bravely and closes her eyes. " _Byakugan!_ " she mutters, and they fly open, veins growing on her temples as her vision is enhanced by a thousand. She carefully searches the castle for any signs of movement or life.

"Aw man," Toshio murmurs from behind Haruna, "I'm so glad we have a Hyuga on our team..."

"Don't call me that," Haruna hisses from between her teeth, a small flame of anger flickering inside her at the very mention of that name. "I've told you a thousand times. It's  _Haruna;_  nothing more."

Behind her, Masaki gives Toshio's head a good smack. " _Idiot,_ " he mutters.

"Oww!" Toshio whines.

Haruna ignores them after that and continues to scan the area. For a while, she sees nothing. But just as she is about to deactivate her  _Byakugan,_ the tiniest flicker of movement catches her attention. She shifts her eyes over to it, and she can just barely see a white figure in the shape of a human slowly moving about the castle. Her brows furrow and she takes a few steps forward. The boys follow her in confusion, and as she gets closer and closer, she can see that the white figure has a bustling chakra network.

"What is it?" Masaki is asking her. "Do you see something?"

Haruna dismisses her  _Byakugan_  and opens her eyes again after a moment or two. "There's someone in there," she tells them. "They have a chakra network, so it's not a ghost."

Masaki taps his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe it's the proctor?"

"Or another Jounin that we have to fight," Toshio suggests.

Haruna shakes her head. "No, I don't think it's any of those things."

"Huh? Then what do you think it is?" Toshio asks, a bit miffed that his suggestion had been shot down as well.

"We shouldn't go in there," Haruna simply replies. "In fact, we should turn around. Now." She spins around and grabs the wrists of the two boys, taking off in a swift run and dragging them behind. Utterly confused, the boys stumble along behind her, both asking her to explain herself. She does not.

In the far distance, a figure with round glasses and an evil face smirks to himself, because he's found exactly what he has been looking for.

\------

Late that night, the three young children hide safely in a small cave and wait for dawn to arrive. The two boys are fast asleep on their makeshift cots, while Haruna stays awake and keeps guard. She leans against the wall of the cave and descends into her thoughts. She hugs her knees to her chest as she replays Toshio's words from before over and over in her mind.

_I'm so glad we have a Hyuga on our team._

"I'm not a Hyuga," she mutters under her breath, her fists clenching. She resents that name with all her might. She hates that she had been given that name rather than the name of her mother.

_Her mother._

When was the last time she had thought about her? Haruna's eyes sting with unshed tears as she recalls what she can remember of her face, her voice, her eyes. She was beautiful, Haruna knows that much. As her mind becomes filled with thoughts of her mother, her last words to her echo inside her ears.

_I love you, Haruna._

"Did you really?" Haruna asks silently. "Then why did you leave?" The anger she always keeps inside begins to bubble to the surface, and immediately she stands up and leaves the cave, in desperate need of fresh air. She makes sure to stay close to the cave as she paces back and forth, silently letting out the tears she never let herself cry. "Damn you," she curses softly. She roughly kicks at the ground before plopping down onto it. She hugs her knees to her chest and growls, her rage quickly reaching its boiling point.

Behind her, a twig snaps. Haruna leaps onto her feet and grabs a kunai knife from her weapons pack, ready to strike.

"Hey," comes a familiar voice hushed in a whisper, "relax, it's only me." A figure materializes from within the shadows into that of one of her comrades.

"Oh, Masaki," Haruna says quietly, struggling to keep her voice level. She quickly rubs her eyes to erase any evidence that she had been crying. "It's only you...."

"I heard a noise and got worried. What's the matter? Why are you all the way out here?" he asks softly, walking towards her.

"Oh, ah... I was just looking at the moon," Haruna smoothly lies, stepping backwards. She lets out a cry when she accidentally steps on a sharp rock. "Ouch!"

"Hey- are you okay?" Masaki asks, his voice raised in panic as he reaches for her.

"I'm- I'm fine," Haruna snaps, struggling to regain her balance. "Go back to sleep. You need to be rested for tomorrow. It's the last day and if we don't make it out of here, we'll all fail."

"...Okay," Masaki belatedly replies, looking down dejectedly. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." After one last worried look at Haruna, he finally turns and trudges back into the cave.

Haruna watches him leave, and for just a moment, her lips twitch and form something of a smile. Though her anger still blazes brightly, she is silently grateful for her two idiot comrades. Carefully, she sits down on the grass again and stares up at the sky, fiddling with the knife in her hand. For a long time, she sits in silence, stewing in her fury, before she curls her hand into a tight fist around the kunai and quietly murmurs something to herself. "One day, I will destroy you. Every last one of you."

"Well, that sure doesn't sound too good," a contemptuous, nasally voice says.

Haruna jumps and once again clambers to her feet, the knife poised and ready to kill. This time, she doesn't recognize the voice. "Who are you?!" she demands.

A low, conceited chuckle slips through the air as another figure materializes. A man appears before her, with round glasses atop his nose and his silver hair tightly pulled back. He towers over her, folding his arms over his chest. His lips are curved in a terrible smile. "I'm Kabuto Yakushi," he informs her, "and I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Haruna spits at him. "I don't even know you!"

 _Kabuto_  merely chuckles. "Hear me out, would you? I think it will prove very beneficial to you. You, who is so full of hatred and wishes to destroy everything that's ever belittled you."

Haruna flinches, fury coursing through her. His words strike a nerve. She has always done her best to hide the truth about herself within her. When her father had taken her in as his own child, he told her that she had to let the past go; that her new life was with him in the Valley Village and that her original roots meant nothing. He'd told her that in hopes of quelling any hatred she may have for anyone of her past. Haruna knew that, but no matter hard she tried, she could not erase her resentment towards the two clans that had cast her out and killed her mother. Not a night went by when she wouldn't sit and stare at the moon, swearing to herself that she would have her revenge one day.

But this Kabuto man has taken it too far for Haruna to handle. How does he know how she feels, and who is he to tell her about it? She's already had enough of him.

"Who do you think you are?!" she shouts, lunging at him with the kunai.

Kabuto smiles, not wavering even an inch. " _If you come with me, I can give you all the power you'll ever need to destroy anyone_ _you wish."_


	4. 山の城 (The Mountain Castle)

The next day, at high noon, Haruna and her two teammates stand on the same dirt path, staring straight ahead at the castle they had run into the night before. In the broad sunlight, they can now clearly see that there is a great wall around it, and outside it, a dried up moat. Along the wall, there are several tall, rectangular windows overlooking the forest- Haruna is sure this is where she had seen Kabuto the night before. Inside the circumference of the wall is a wide and tall building with four towers- one on each corner. The towers are enveloped in ivy, and on some of them, it had eaten away at the stone with which they had been made. The building in between the four towers is a large house made of the same cobblestone- but with a tall, triangular roof made of some type of wood; it's much too far away for any of them to determine just which kind. The three of them are positive that this is what they had seen the night before.

"That castle," Masaki comments as they stand before it, somewhat in awe. "We have to go inside it?"

"So it would seem," Haruna replies in a soft voice, her own eyes a bit wide as she takes it all in.

"But..." Toshio hestitates. "But didn't you tell us yesterday not to go in there?"

Haruna shuts her eyes tightly as Kabuto's words once again echo inside her ears.

_"Think about it for a while." His nasal, venomous voice filtered its way into Haruna's ears. She was frozen in shock; unable to form a single word as she turned Kabuto's ridiculous offer over and over in her mind. "If your answer is yes," Kabuto continued, "come and meet me at the Mountain Castle at midnight. Oh, but- I think I should warn you," he added, pushing his glasses up his nose with his middle finger; the once crystal clear lenses glinting over in an ominous way. "Don't bother bringing your little friends along. They might not be able to... handle what's waiting inside." He chuckled evilly as he vanished into the fog, and the night once again became still._

"Haruna?"

"I did say that, yes," Haruna snaps, a bit startled as Masaki's worried voice jolts her away from her thoughts rather suddenly. She feels a twinge of guilt for having used a harsh tone with her friend, but ignores it as she continues. "I just think it won't be so bad in the daytime. We should check it out now, while the sun is high." She wants to be sure of what is inside. She wants to find out just what could be so dangerous that Kabuto had gone through all the trouble of warning her not to bring the other two. But mostly, Haruna just doesn't trust the guy.

"But haven't you heard about this place? From your father?"

"What do you mean?" Haruna turns to Masaki confusedly. Beside her, Toshio stiffens.

Masaki looks both ways before leaning in close to the other two, lowering his voice in a sinister way. "That castle over there? They say it's haunted... by the family of the First Yamakage."

"Yikes," Toshio gulps.

Haruna narrows her eyes cynically. "Come on. No one actually believes a stupid myth like that."

"No, it's true! It's said that the castle was built a long time ago when the Mountain Country was first established. The Daimyo and his family resided there, along with their servants. This was back when the country was still closed to the outside world. Five generations lived and died in that castle, and then, when the First Yamakage's father finally passed on and he was named Daimyo, he decided it was time to open the country."

"I know all this," Haruna interjects. "Then the war broke out and the whole country was destroyed."

"Yes, and the castle was taken over," Masaki adds with a smug smile. "Only the Yamakage and his wife and son were able to escape in time. Those who remained inside- his mother, brother, and servants- were all killed shortly after."

"S-so- does that mean it's h-haunted by th-them?" the cowardly Toshio stammers, hiding behind Haruna, who rolls her eyes at him.

"Exactly," confirms Masaki with a nod.

"Oh yeah?" Haruna challenges, placing her hands on her hips. "And how is everyone so sure of that?"

Masaki chuckles, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "After the war, the Second Yamakage ordered that the castle be redone, due to all the damage it had been dealt by the war and also natural decay, because he and his family wanted to move back into it. So the villagers went into the forest and approached the castle. And when they arrived there, they saw lights in the windows, and thought they heard shouting. When they got inside the ruins, several of them reported that they had been shoved around, or knocked to the ground, and some of them even died. They all got so scared that they ran away and came back to tell the Yamakage that no one must ever go inside there again. And to this day, it's still sitting there, in ruins, not being fixed, because everyone is too scared to go near it."

Toshio lets out a squeak as Haruna frowns at the other boy. "I don't believe you," she informs him with a shake of her head. "That's just make-believe nonsense the villagers made up out of boredom. There's no way that castle is actually haunted." Even as she says it, her gut twists with worry and she begins to doubt herself.

"Whatever," Masaki laughs, shrugging it off. "It's your fault if we end up dead."

" _We aren't going to end up dead!_ " Haruna snaps indignantly, rushing to deny Masaki's statement before Toshio has a breakdown. "We're just... doing a little recon, that's all. I highly doubt there's actually something in there."  _No. There is something in there. Someone. And I need to take him out._

Masaki rolls his eyes at Toshio, who is pitifully hiding himself behind Haruna. "Whatever you say,  _Daichou_ ," he replies.

Haruna shoots him a glare. "Let's just go inside and see what's up. Alright?"

"Alright, alright..." Masaki gives in and walks ahead towards the castle.

Behind Haruna, Toshio nods with a small whimper. "I-I'm staying behind you, Haruna," he whispers.

"Fine... you big baby," she answers, walking behind Masaki. The youngest trots along behind her with a pout.

The three of them head towards the narrow mossy path that had formed a bridge over the now-empty moat. The moat in question is teeming with wildflowers and tall grass, small bees humming as they land on each one. Haruna looks up at the wall and sees just how much ivy has covered it- up above the doorway, there is a gaping hole where the green plant is hanging down. Over the doorway is even more; the leaves are so deep and crowded that none of them can see through it. They stop in front of it after crossing the moss bridge and take in their surroundings. Beside them, a large piece of wood is being swallowed by thick grass; Haruna examines it a bit more closely and comes to realize it had been part of a door at one point. Tall, leafy trees surround them on every side, ascending almost into the clouds to caress the sky. Their massive, green tops cover their heads, but they don't stop the brilliant sunlight from peeking through the leaves. It's a beautiful, warm day. Haruna's confident that a "haunted" castle couldn't possibly be dangerous in the middle of the day like this. She's ready for whatever she may find inside.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she asks from behind Masaki, shifting her weight impatiently as they had been standing there silently gawking for over a minute.

"How... do we get inside?" Masaki asks, pointing at the dense layer of moss and ivy covering the entrance.

"A knife?" Haruna suggests in smart-ass tone, taking her kunai out of her pocket and twirling it around her finger a bit. She catches it after a moment or two and steps up to the offending greenery, slashing at it. Each time she clears more, she takes another step, until she's finally made it to the other side. Tentatively, the boys follow behind her, as she yelps and brushes a spider that had fallen from inside the moss off of her shoulder. "There," she says after regaining composure. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Masaki and Toshio step inside as well. The three are now inside the wall, and take another look around. The great big house is in the center, and all around it, the grass is growing bright green and tall, and wildflowers are present almost everywhere they look. Against the wall to the left, they notice what could be the remnants of an old garden, surrounded by a short fence. To the right of the house is an old well. The outer walls of the house are also covered in ivy, and the roof that stands far above their heads has collapsed in several places. The doorway of the house is wide open, the door half hanging off of its hinges, and also covered in long, green, leafy vines.

"Yikes," Toshio mutters. "So much ivy everywhere... They may as well call this the Ivy Castle." 

"This isn't a traditional home," Masaki notes. "The structure is very... Odd. Why are there so many floors? And the doors were made of wood, not paper. Why? I never thought the fabled haunted castle was such a weirdly constructed house..."

"Well, it served its purpose, didn't it?" Haruna replies, gazing up at the tall house in front of them. "Back then, a lot of people had to live in this house. And families were big. They also needed to be kept safe, right? To be honest, this is the safest looking house I've ever seen, even in this condition."

"You're crazy," Toshio chuckles. "It looks like it could collapse if we breathed on it."

"You know what I mean," Haruna glares at him.

"Well," Masaki pipes up again, desperate to avoid even the tiniest conflict, "since you wanted to check it out so badly, let's check it out. Haruna, you first."

"Wha- me?!" she shrieks. Without even realizing it, she takes a step back.

"What's the matter? Something wrong?" Masaki smirks.

Haruna scowls, refusing to let him get any satisfaction. "No," she sputters, "I just think- I just think that you, you should go- go first!"

"And why is that?"

"I-" she glances inside the open doorway and gulps, noticing how dank and creepy it looks even from out where she is standing, and wrenches her gaze back to Masaki.  _He looks so cute when he gets cocky,_  she finds herself thinking, but quickly shakes the thought away. "I just-" she continues, but is unable to form words and just settles with an even deeper scowl. "Fine," she huffs in surrender, lifting her foot and marching straight into the house. She feels like throwing up, but she reminds herself that the boys are right behind her, and that she's not alone.

 _It's all going to be fine, Haruna,_  she says to herself.  _J_ _ust relax. You'll find whatever Kabuto was talking about, take it out, and leave. Then you can finish the Chûnin Exams with the boys and everything will go back to normal._

Behind her, the other two step inside, and immdeiately stop moving. They are in the foyer, that extends back at least twenty feet until it reaches a corner. To their left is a staircase leading up, but over half of the steps have fallen through. There is no way to get up. The main floor is missing several floorboards, and the wallpaper is nearly gone; some of it is even hanging off of the wall. To their right is a long hall that leads straight ahead, into what looks like a kitchen. After a deep breath, Haruna decides to check it out first.

"Let's go straight," Haruna tells her teammates, who quietly nod and follow her as she carefully steps across the demolished floor and down the hall. Once she arrives, she stops and peers into the doorway. Against the back wall is a massive double sink with a wide counter, and a window right above it. Instead of glass, however, there is only thick ivy. The floor is also destroyed in this room, and some small green plants have begun to grow from the patches of dirt left behind. She gazes all around the room and is just about to take a step inside when-

"Haruna, look out!"

A crack is heard and suddenly the kitchen ceiling begins to crumble. Not a moment later, it comes crashing down to the floor. At the same time, both boys grab the back of her shirt and yank her backwards. Haruna lets out a scream but is pulled out of harm's way just in time, landing against the safety of Masaki's chest. Masaki wraps his arms around her tightly as he stumbles back, regaining his balance shortly after.

"Are you okay?" he asks Haruna, who turns around and clutches his shirt with all her might.

"Y-yeah," she lies, despite the fact that she is shaking.

"Oh my gosh," Toshio breathes and gently pats her back. "I got so scared for a second there- I'm so glad you're safe!"

Masaki pets her hair gently as Haruna calms down and lets out a sigh of relief. "Me too, I'm glad you're safe."

"...Thank you guys," Haruna mutters after a few moments, her cheek pressed against Masaki's broad chest. She can hear his heart beat.

"Don't thank us," Toshio laughs softly to lighten the mood. "I mean, you would have done the same for us, wouldn't you?"

 _Would I have?_  She silently wonders. She slowly pulls away from Masaki and looks at him for short time. His wide, brown eyes are full of concern for her. No matter how hard she tries, she can't even detect a single trace of pity in them. Then she turns and looks at Toshio, the knucklehead of the group, and the biggest, whiniest loser ever. Still, try as she might, she can't help but want to protect him with her life. Why?

 _Because these two are important to me,_  she realizes.   _Where would I be without them right now? Dead, that's where. They've been here for a long time. They're... My friends._

Haruna smiles at the two of them and nods, finally giving her belated answer. "Yeah, of course I would."

Toshio grins. Masaki gives her a soft smile.

"But... I don't think we should go any further in this house," Haruna decides after a few moments. She doesn't want to waste time anymore. "It's falling apart. Let's check out that giant wall outside instead."

"The... Wall?" Masaki repeats slowly.

"What do you mean?" Toshio inquires.

"The wall. Didn't you see how thick it was? And the windows on the outside? It's obvious that there's something inside. So let's go see what's in it."

"Oh...," murmurs Masaki. "Well now that you put it like that..."

"Oh yeah!" the blonde yells. "Let's go!" He grabs Haruna's hand and drags her back outside.

"Hey-! Don't pull me!" Haruna yells indigantly as she stumbles behind him.

Something doesn't settle right with Masaki. He follows the other two slowly while in deep thought. As he exits the building and steps back outside, he folds his arms over his chest and speaks up. "Guys... I think we should just leave. The exams are over at midnight tonight, and we still haven't found a way out of the forest. This is a big waste of time, and what if there's something inside that we can't handle?"

"Come on, Masaki," Toshio groans. "It's not like there's actually a ghost around here or something. Besides, we have  _her._  With her eyes, we'll be able to find the end of the forest no sweat. What's the harm in snooping around a little bit? And anyways, I don't think they would have something a genin can't handle as part of the Chûnin exam."

Haruna begins to doubt Toshio, however. What if Masaki is right? What if they find something inside that was too much for them to handle? Or, what if even with her eyes, they still can't find the end of the exam and fail?

Toshio, on the other hand, is uncharacteristically confident. He marches right up to that wall, mutters something intelligible, draws back with his fist and then releases all his power in one strong blow to the wall. It shatters the stone and it crumbles away, leaving a suitable hole for the three of them to enter in to. He turns around and gives the other two a sheepish grin.

"Look, guys! We can get in now!" he cheers.

Haruna's eyes are wide as she takes in what just occurred. She glances at Masaki, who with a similar expression, gives her a confused shrug. There's no going back now, because apparently, their fate has now been decided for them.

"I didn't know he was that good at Taijutsu," Masaki whispers to Haruna as they walk over to him in shock.

"Me either..."

From within the tall grass, a small, white snake slithers its way toward the three teammates, stealthily following them into the hollow wall. Undetected and unheard, it noiselessly watches them, interested to know what their fate will be.


	5. 白い蛇 (White Snake)

 

"So...what is it that we were looking for again?" asks Masaki as the three of them walk further down the dark hidden hallway inside the giant wall. In his hand he's carrying a flashlight that illuminates the hallway ahead of them. Being the sensible member of the group, he is the only one who actually thought to bring one.

"I don't know; I'm just curious as to what's inside this thing," Haruna replies as she gazes at the walls, which are adorned with a vast amount of hanging pictures and unlit torches. Her eyebrows lift slightly as they pass the wooden frames which hold family portraits of old feudal lords and beautiful landscapes. The carpet beneath their feet is surprisingly soft and not as worn as it perhaps should have been; the hallway itself seems to be in excellent condition.

Toshio, his one burst of courage having resulted in a hole in the wall, is now timidly following behind Haruna, looking about for any sign that something will jump out at them; but the walls hold no doors or windows so eventually he calms down. After a bit of walking, he also notices the family portraits and gazes at them with a smile. "That guy really looks like your dad, doesn't he?" he asks Haruna, nudging her and pointing at one of the pictures.

Haruna stops and looks up at it quietly. In front of her, Masaki also pauses and shines the beam of light on it.

"Wow, he really does...," Masaki quietly agrees after taking a closer look.

Haruna stares at the man in the picture for a very long time, a pain growing in her chest. The more she looks, the more she disagrees with her teammates. "He looks nothing like the Third," she mutters, turning away after one last glance. She hasn't thought about her Stepfather for a couple of days, and she had rather enjoyed it. It hurts to think about him. About  _that day._  Feelings start to creep up on her and she feels her eyes sting, so she turns and storms down the hallway, away from her team mates... away from the picture, the pain. "Let's go, guys," she yells at them, already several feet ahead.

The boys worriedly exchange glances but catch up to her as quickly as they can.

"We didn't mean to upset you, Haruna-chan," Toshio says with a pout in his voice as he walks shoulder-to-shoulder with the girl. "We're sorry if we did."

"Whatever," is all she says. Behind her, Masaki frowns.

The three of them round the corner with Haruna in the lead. They walk on for a little while longer in silence until a figure materializes from the shadows. Haruna freezes and instantly activates her  _Byakugan,_ and at that same moment, Masaki's flashlight suddenly goes out.

"Huh?" Masaki grunts confusedly. "What the heck- I  _just_ put new batteries in this thing!"

"Is it broken?" Toshio asks him.

As the oblivious boys chatter behind her, Haruna scans the room all over with her eyes until the figure finally appears in them, stepping closer to her in a challenging way. Haruna's hand slowly reaches back and hovers over the kunai holster on her thigh. She's ready to strike at a moment's notice. In front of her, the once mysterious figure evolves into one of a young boy. He has long, white hair tied up in red on either side of his face, and two crimson dots on his forehead. Clad in a light-colored tunic and shinobi pants, he approaches Haruna with an evil, challenging smile and drops a sword out of his sleeve and into his hand. The sword is thin and white with a deadly sharp tip, and upon closer inspection, Haruna comes to realize that is made of bone.

"Who are you?!" she shouts at him, her hand inside the kunai pack; her fingers closed around a knife. The sight of a bone spear unsettles her; she does her best to keep level-headed. Behind her, the two boys look up at their leader in fear, finally aware of their surroundings.

The boy chuckles as he continues to step closer to her. "Your worst nightmare," he replies in a deep, honey sweet voice, lifting his sword and baring it at Haruna, who gapes in shock at him. "What's the matter?" he patronizingly asks her, "Are you too afraid to fight back?"

Behind her, Masaki and Toshio step forward until they are in front of her. Haruna stares at the backs of her two teammates, speechless. She is unsure of what to do as she watches them stand up for her. The two of them wear a stern expression as they stare this new challenger down, and the older of the two speaks up after a moment of silence.

"What are you doing in here, and why did you challenge her like that?"

The white-haired boy chuckles a few times before his face becomes serious once again. " _I live here,_ " he replies menacingly, slashing his sword at Masaki, who narrowly dodges. Haruna flinches and steps back a bit. The challenger laughs softly at the reaction he received. "So I think the proper question is, what are  _you_ doing in here? Hmm?"

Haruna rushes to Masaki's side and finally draws her kunai, holding it at an arm's length. "We were just exploring," she answers his question in a harsh tone. "We'll leave if that's what you want."

"Hmm... an intriguing thought, indeed," the boy muses, "but I'd much rather  _kill you_ for intruding." He takes a small step closer to the team, an evil smirk playing on his lips.

Toshio, who had also flinched a bit when the white-head had slashed at his comrade, balls his fists at his sides and clenches his jaw as the enemy taunts his friends. He inches towards the other two protectively, and as the white-haired boy moves closer, Toshio's anger blazes hotter and hotter. And as soon as he enters his range, without any warning, Toshio draws back and throws the hardest punch he can manage at the boy's jaw.

Haruna and Masaki stare wide-eyed at their younger comrade, shocked at his sudden display of power- and anger. Toshio's fist trembles as he prepares to punch again-- but he almost trips over backwards when he sees that the boy he had punched has not been hit or even fazed.

The white-haired boy is chuckling as sharp, dense bones stick out of his cheek and jaw, some of them broken or cracked, but still, his face had not been damaged in any way. Eerily, the white-head turns his head to look at the one who had punched him, and he lets out a dark, amused laugh. Toshio grinds his teeth and cradles his now bleeding hand, as the adrenaline subsides and he finally realizes his hand is broken.

"Good try," tuts the enemy, who suddenly reappears behind Toshio and kicks him square in the back, knocking him down the hall a good ten or fifteen feet. Toshio lets out a cry of pain as his body is thrown and knocked roughly against the ground, his broken hand in searing agony. The white-headed one grunts out a laugh and steps over to him. "You dare to challenge me, in my own home?"

Haruna's eyes narrow as her own anger boils, and she begins to weave handsigns to throw her strongest jutsu at this bastard for hurting her friend. But before she can finish, Masaki places his hand over hers and shakes his head at her. Haruna glares at him, but Masaki, whose eyes are full of concern for their friend as well, shakes his head again and mouths to her,  _just wait a minute._

On the ground, Toshio is trembling, having never been in this much pain in his entire life. He wants to cry; he wants to run away and hide. More than anything, he wants his teammates to rescue him. But he's well aware that he's always the one being saved and needing protection; today, he decides he hates it. With all the strength he can gather, he slides his good hand underneath him and shakily pushes himself up off the ground.

"Toshio-kun," Haruna whispers, her eyes stinging with tears she fights desperately to hold in. Beside her, Masaki's face hardens at the white-haired jerk, and he glances at Haruna.

"Here's the plan," he mutters to his midnight haired comrade, "you use your Fire Technique. I'll hide in the shadows and wait for the perfect moment, and then I'll use my Kawashima Style on him."

Toshio slowly gets on his feet and takes a breath, glancing at his comrades once. With a small, determined smile, he takes his stance and holds out his good hand as a challenge, ready and willing to fight for his team.  _Let's become someone useful today, Toshio,_ he cheers himself on mentally before raising his voice to the white-headed enemy before him. "Yes, I do. Anyone who even attempts to hurt my friends is in for a world of pain!"

Haruna, having listened to Masaki's soft voice intently, understands the plan and nods, quickly weaving the signs once again for her strongest fire technique. Masaki runs and hides, and with one giant breath, Haruna prepares to fire. Before she can do anything, however, she catches Toshio's eye.

The white head chuckles at Toshio and instead turns, throwing his arm outwards to strike at Haruna with the bone spear before she can launch her fire jutsu at him. However, Haruna vanishes into dust at the very last second, replacing herself with Toshio, who at the very moment of the enemy's lack of balance, kicks him right in the jaw, sending him flying backwards, and his sword with him.

The enemy grunts and flips a few times before landing on his feet, crouching and using his hand to maintain balance as he skids backwards. Once he finally stops, he chuckles and cracks his neck a little, acting as if it had been nothing to him. "So, now the brats are getting serious, eh?"

Little does he know, Haruna is using chakra to hang from the ceiling right above him, and has her attack ready to fire.

"I told you!" Toshio yells at him, feeling proud of himself for finally landing a kick, and saunters towards him, still keeping a mindful distance as he knows of the other's impending fiery doom. "No one tries to hurt my friends and gets away with it!"

"Ha!" the enemy stands and picks up his spear, charging at Toshio with it, but is abruptly stopped as Haruna releases her Fire Technique.

" _Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"_ From on the ceiling, Haruna releases a dense, powerful burst of scalding hot flames down onto the white headed boy, who screeches as a part of his shoulder and leg are burned, but jumps out of the way before anything else can get hurt. He stumbles back, holding his injured shoulder, and glares up at the girl.

"You little-!" he growls, lifting his good arm and shooting from his sleeve what looks like a long, dangerous rope made of dense bones at her, and laughing manically as it wraps itself around her and yanks her to the ground rather roughly. Haruna yelps as her body is thrown against the floor at an astounding rate.

"Haruna!" Toshio screams and charges full speed at the enemy, though he isn't that far away. He jumps up and prepares to land yet another punch right on his face, but the enemy catches Toshio's fist instead and throws him back, breaking his left arm in the process. "Agh!" the youngest cries out as he's once again flung to the floor, his consciousness slipping away as the pain in his body heavily increases.

From within the shadows, Masaki's patience has worn thin as he watches his comrades get beaten into the ground. He prepares his attack as the snow-haired enemy snickers at the two on the ground.

"You two showed perhaps a tiny glint of potential at first, but you failed the moment you were caught by me," the white head mutters. Bound by the bone rope, Haruna struggles to get free, but utterly fails. The enemy casts a patronizing gaze at her and smiles terribly as he watches her attempt to escape. "And to think  _you_  were the one my master wanted..."

Haruna's eyes grow wide and she stares up at him incredulously. "Your... master?!" she repeats, pausing her efforts to break free of his hold. She looks at him for an answer but instead, something in her mind clicks, and she realizes she recognizes him.

The enemy opens his mouth to reply, when suddenly, his eyes roll back in his head and his jaw hangs slack. He sinks to his knees and shortly after, falls face first on the ground. The bones that held Haruna captive crumble away and she is free once again. She immediately backs away, frightened at the sight she has just beheld.

"Haruna, it's okay," Masaki's voice slips through the dim light, and suddenly, he's in front of her, offering him her hand. Haruna slowly takes it and is helped to her feet. Her back is incredibly sore from landing on it so roughly, and she has to lean on Masaki for support as she limps along with him.

"What... was that," Haruna asks quietly, her heart pounding as the hideous scene replays behind her eyes.

"My Kawashima Style Jutsu," Masaki replies, holding Haruna's hand tightly as they step around the enemy and walk over to Toshio.

"Is... he dead?"

"No. Just stunned. I sent a burst of electricity into his spine which screwed up his nervous system and knocked him out. All the signals in his brain are messed up. But eventually, they'll straighten themselves out again." Haruna nods slowly.

The two of them stand in front of an unconscious Toshio a moment before Masaki kneels down and checks his pulse and vitals. Being from the Kawashima Clan meant learning and mastering Medical Ninjutsu by age twelve at least, and since Masaki is a genius, he already had at age nine. Haruna keeps this in mind as she worriedly watches over him. Masaki finds Toshio's other arm to be broken as well, and quickly rips up his own shirt to bandage it. He feels around and sets the bone, tying his arm up tightly and then moves on to his wrist. Haruna becomes more and more worried when she notices that Toshio hasn't reacted at all to Masaki's ministrations.

"Masaki... he hasn't moved... is he-"

"He's fine," Masaki cuts in abruptly before Haruna can finish. His words have an edge to them, and right away, Haruna can tell that he is lying. She activates her Byakugan, which had shut off when she had fallen to the floor from the ceiling, and scans Toshio with it. His chakra network is faint, as if he is on the verge of death. She clenches her fists tightly, unable to stop a tear from falling.

"Masaki, his chakra-"

"He's  _fine,_ " Masaki snaps, and Haruna flinches, because Masaki has never raised his voice in all the time she has known him. Her face drops and more tears fall, much to her dislike.

"No he isn't," she softly replies. "And it's all my fault."

 _Is this what Kabuto meant?_ Haruna wonders.  _Was he actually serious when he said I shouldn't bring them along? Did he do this on purpose?_

"It's not your fault," Masaki mutters belatedly, his voice hard.

"Don't lie to me," Haruna hisses through her teeth, angrier than ever before.

"It's  _not,_ " Masaki insists, turning to look up at her. "I should have used my technique when Toshio had him distracted. Then neither of you would have gotten hurt. It's my fault."

"It's my fault for bringing you here in the first place!" Haruna shrieks, tears uncontrollably slipping down her cheeks.  _If I hadn't been so selfish,_ she wants to say to him.  _If I had just stayed away from that Kabuto guy and not gotten involved. If I hadn't given into my curiosity... "_ None of this would have happened if-"

_Thump!_

The two whirl around and notice spot on the ground where the snow-haired boy was is bare; the boy in question is nowhere to be found. Haruna looks around wildly for him, but despite her efforts, she can't locate him. With a frustrated growl, she activates her  _byakugan,_ but Masaki places his hand on her shoulder and points straight ahead. Haruna wrenches her gaze in that direction and squints; after a moment coming to find that sauntering towards them is none other than  _Kabuto._  


	6. 現実 (Reality)

Haruna's jaw clenches and her blood boils as she hatefully glares at Kabuto. Before Masaki can stop her, she weaves signs and inhales, releasing the strongest burst of fire she's ever managed. Kabuto leaps over the fireball and lands behind them, cackling.

"You're going to have to try a lot harder to beat me,  _little girl,_ " Kabuto taunts her as she spins to face him again. "Besides, I did warn you not to bring your little friends along and you blatantly disobeyed me. I guess you get what's coming if I don't go easy on you."

"That other guy!" Haruna screams at him, furious that her efforts had gone to waste. "With the white hair! That was you too, wasn't it!"

Masaki stares at her in utter confusion, his eyes gaping wide. "Haruna...?"

Kabuto laughs quietly, his evil smirk having grown immensely. He pushes his glasses up his nose and they glint over as he answers in a low voice, "How perceptive of you. I'm impressed."

"Do you know this guy?!" Masaki demands, pointing at him.

Haruna's fists clench and shake as her anger grows incredibly. "You...you  _hurt Toshio!!_ " she shrieks at Kabuto, almost not hearing Masaki. "And you're going to pay!"

Kabuto chuckles again. "No, I'm not going to pay...but I know who will."

_Crash!_

The two turn around immediately towards the sound of the noise to see wall broken in, spilling sunlight into the hall, tearing through the darkness. The two shield their eyes until the light is blotted out again by a massive form; tall and wide, with an enormous head that blocks the sun completely, despite the gigantic hole it had smashed. A low, ground-shaking hiss is heard, and all at once, Haruna and Masaki realize just what it is they are about to fight.

"Oh, no..." Masaki murmurs.

"M-masaki!" Haruna shrieks at his teammate, terror coursing through her. "It's a g-giant snake!"

"What, you think I don't see that?!" he screams back, already running towards it.

"Masaki, wait!" his comrade cries and runs after him. Behind them, Kabuto slips into the darkness and disappears.

Haruna begins to weave signs for her firestyle in an attempt to distract herself from the terrifying monster. She jumps up high and sends a giant fireball right into the snake's face. The snake writhes around in agony as his skin is burned and lets out a terrible shriek. Haruna lands on the ground again and Masaki runs after her, tossing several kunai at the distracted reptile. Because of the height of his jump, he lands outside the wall, behind the snake. Haruna notices where he lands and begins to panic. She throws a few more kunai at the monster, landing them right in its chest, though it does little. She dodges to the side as it lunges its massive head at her to try and bite her, and as she does so, she calls out to her teammate.

"Masaki! Hit it with earth style and get back in here!" Her heart is pounding faster than humanly possible, her chest tightening with every second. She feels like she might faint, and avoids looking at the massive, hissing creature.

"A-alright, Haruna!" Masaki yells in reply, kneeling on the ground and weaving signs.

However, Haruna had just tossed several shuriken into its mouth and it had begun to squirm and wriggle, lifting and slamming down its massive tail. Masaki began weaving signs, but she knew he was still a beginner at Earth Style, and his hands didn't move quickly enough-

" _Masaki, look out_!"

Her warning comes too late, and the tail swings, striking Masaki and flinging him limply into the air, off into the trees. With a scream of horror, she reactivates her  _Byakugan_ and searches for him through the walls. " _Masaki!!_ " she screeches again, but to no avail. No trace of his now-familiar chakra signature anywhere.

At that moment, Haruna snaps. Both of her comrades are either dead or close to it--all because of that  _jerk_  Kabuto. Her anger reaches its absolute boiling point and her veins explode with her flaming blood as she lets out a cry of rage. She barely notices the trickle of blood down her forehead as some unfathomable power rushes from within her and she loses control of her body as it spills out from her. The world around her is a bloody blur; all she can see are her two dead comrades--her precious friends, who she couldn't protect because she was  _too weak._

_Masaki... Toshio... No..._

The world around her explodes in blood red flames, but she feels nothing. To her, it seems as though she is outside herself, looking on as she destroys every single thing around her: the wall, the snake, the castle itself.  _Is that me, or is that someone else?_ she asks herself as she sobs in grief.  _What are they doing? Why won't they stop?_

Tears pour endlessly from her lavender eyes as she slowly begins to lose consciousness. Inside her chest, her very heart is breaking, and the pain fills every corner of her body. Violent sobs rack her lungs, and her eyes sting and bleed from the excessive tears--but it all seems faded, as if in a dream. She convinces herself of this as she slips away, promising herself that when she wakes up, it'll have never happened. Her two teammates--whom she loves so deeply, she knows--will be there the moment she wakes up.

And so, Haruna succumbs to unconsciousness and slips into a deep, nightmare-filled sleep.

\-----------------------------------

_Cold._

It's cold. A cold draft moves over her bare shoulders as as her consciousness slowly returns to her, skin prickling with the new sensation. She shivers, her eyes slowly opening. The surface beneath her is painfully hard, so she shifts her back a little to try and get comfortable again as her eyes adjust to the dim light. She is in a small, barren room, and as she gazes around she notices one candle on a table in the far corner. Sitting at the table is Kabuto.

"Oh, so you're finally awake," he drones from his seat, casting his gaze towards her.

Haruna sits straight up at the sound of his rotten, nasal voice, but regrets it immediately as all the blood suddenly drains from her head and the room begins to spin. She holds her head and lays back down before she can even say a word.

"Don't sit up too fast," Kabuto chuckles, getting up slowly. "You'll get a head rush." He saunters over to her with his hands in his pockets and watches as she struggles to regain balance.

"Where...am I...?" Haruna manages, rubbing her temples. "Where's Masaki? And Toshio, is he okay? You rotten jerk--because of you, I've probably failed the exams!" She sits up again, slower this time, and points an accusing finger at Kabuto as she suddenly remembers what she had been doing in the forest. "The exams! What day is it now?! I have to get going, so let me go!"

Kabuto chuckles again, the corner of his mouth curved into a smirk. He stares down at her with pity and doesn't move an inch. "You don't remember anything at all, do you?"

A sinking feeling suddenly comes over Haruna. She's forgetting something; something important.

Something terrible.

Her gut twists into knots and her heart climbs up into her throat as her mind reels, desperately gathering up any fragment of memory it can find to solve this mystery. She stares at Kabuto incredulously and mutters, "What are you talking about...?"

Kabuto's small smirk grows into an evil grin. "Your teammates? They're both dead. Because of you."

Just as Kabuto utters those words, an onslaught of horrific images fill her head. The castle in the forest. The hollow wall. The white-haired boy with the bones. The giant snake.

Toshio and Masaki. Their deaths.

_No. This can't be happening._

"No!" She voices her thoughts, gripping her head tightly as if to hold it together. "You...you're lying!"

"You know very well I'm not lying," Kabuto replies, his voice as calm and hateful as ever. Haruna's reaction is merely amusing to him. "You remember it all now, don't you?"

" _Stop it!_ " the girl shrieks at the very top of her lungs, lunging at Kabuto, who simply catches her fists and pushes her back onto the cot she had previously slept on.

"Calm down," he tells her, disgruntled after having to hold her back. "No amount of yelling and throwing a tantrum is going to change the facts."

" _Shut up, you jerk!_ " Haruna cries through her sobs, the realization hitting her like a train. Her comrades--her friends are dead because of her.  _Dead. Gone. They don't exist anymore._  " _This is all your fault!_ "

" _My_  fault?" Kabuto repeats in a mock confused tone. "I think you're mistaken. This is  _your_  fault. Didn't I warn you not to bring them with you?"

That's right. He had. And Haruna knows it well. She curls into a ball on the cot, her back turned to Kabuto, and cries for a long while, her head full of images of her friends.

Kabuto stands there quietly for a long time, unsure of what to say. He folds his arms over his chest and considers. How will he convince the girl to come with him now? She surely must hate him at this point. Perhaps if he tried to be a bit nicer to her--whatever that means. Still, she is merely a child, so he's sure her thoughts will follow wherever he leads them. He's running out of time, so he has to try. It's the best shot he has.

"Ahem." He clears his throat a bit, preparing himself. He softens his voice just slightly and says, "Look, do you remember why I came to you in the first place?"

Haruna remains silent. She didn't want to talk. Especially to him.

"I offered you the power to destroy anyone who's ever made you feel insignificant. Do you know why I offered you that power?"

No response.

Kabuto uses his finger to push his glasses up his nose, swallowing down his frustration and continuing on in a soft but frank tone of voice. "I offered it to you because you  _have the potential_  to become extremely powerful," he tells her. "Do you recall what happened after your comrade--the dark-haired one--died?"

"No," Haruna finally gives in and replies, her voice venomous. She doesn't move, staring flatly at the wall.

"You went on a rampage. You went ballistic, actually. You almost frightened  _me_. But...there was something on your forehead--it looked red. And it was bleeding."

This piques Haruna's interest, and she slowly turns over to face Kabuto, staring at him with wide, apprehensive eyes. "Red?" she asks softly. "Bleeding?"

"Yes," Kabuto nods. _Good; she's interested._  "A lot of impressively powerful Jutsu came from it. It blew the giant snake to bits, and that castle--well, it's even more ruined now."

Haruna's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. Why doesn't she remember any of this?

Kabuto smirks inwardly; he knows he's got her now. "Then you passed out. You've been unconscious for almost three days now, actually."

"Three days?!" Haruna squeaks. "There's no way--what about the exams! And the village, and my dad--" The thought of her dad stops her. Her gut twists and her heart sinks to the bottoms of her feet. "My...dad...,"

"Think about this carefully," Kabuto says to her. "After what you did, do you really think he'd let you back into your village? That he'd still accept you? A kage has to look to his village first, after all. Even before his own family."

Slowly, Haruna shakes her head, overcome with guilt. He was right. She knew the number one rule well--the village must come before anything else, even a comrade. Even family. Her eyes prickled with tears. "He would say I disappointed him," she murmurs, her heart sinking impossibly lower as she does. "He'd put the safety of the village before his own feelings."

"So do you honestly believe you've got something to go back to? It seems to me that your days of playing in the village are over."

Haruna looks up at Kabuto inquisitively, tears running down her face.

 _Ugh, she's crying again._  "What I mean is, what other choice do you have but to come with me?" he explains, keeping his face blank. "You've already got so much power; I saw it with my own eyes. If you come with me, I can take you to someone who can make you  _even more powerful._ "

Haruna wipes her eyes and blinks more tears away. "...who?" she asks quietly.

Kabuto can't hide his satisfied smirk. "His name is Orochimaru. He's my master. If you come with me now and do as I say, he can be your master, too."

Haruna considers his words. Out of curiosity, she slowly lifts her hand to her forehead, gingerly running her fingers over the strange slit that had formed there when she was born.  _Red and bleeding_. What on earth could that have meant, Haruna wonders. But the more she touches it, the more she suddenly remembers. She had always done her best to hide her forehead with her bangs...and when she was little, her mother always made sure it was hidden, too. Suddenly, she recalls something her mother used to always say to her.

_I love you dearly, so to keep you safe, we must hide your forehead. There's something on it that must never be seen by anyone from the Clans. It they see it, they will kill you._

_The clans_. So that's why they were running away that day. That's why her mother was killed. 

Her heart kicks up at the thought of the wretched clans she hates so much. If she were to follow Kabuto and meet this master he spoke of, she would be able to become strong with the power that the Uchiha and Hyuga had tried so hard to kill her for--and she could destroy them.  _What justice,_  she thinks,  _to get my revenge with what they killed mother for._

Everything slows down around her as she makes her desicion.

"I'll go."

 _But Haruna_ , she hears her father's voice in her head.  _That's in the past now. The clan that caused you all this pain and suffering, and killed your mother--don't think about them anymore. They're somewhere far away. And when the time comes, justice will be brought upon them. You have a new life here, with me as your father, and I promise from the bottom of my heart that I will protect you. It was your mother's dying wish, so I can't let her down._

In her mind's eye, she sees the brilliantly warm smile Akihiko had worn as he made that promise to her. But in the next moment, the vision fades away into that of Kabuto, standing before her and staring at her apprehensively.

"What was that?" he asks her.

 _Sorry, dad_. Haruna slowly pushes herself off of the cot and stands on her feet, staring up at Kabuto. "I said, fine. I'll go," she said, stronger this time.

_I'm doing things my way._

Kabuto's grin widens. "Very well," he says, turning. "Come with me, then." He leads her out of the room and down a dimly lit hallway. Haruna trails behind him, destroying every part of her that tells her this is wrong.

 _Masaki, Toshio...I let you two down_. She follows closely behind Kabuto, clenching her fists to hold back her tears as their faces come up in her mind.  _I won't cry anymore, though. Because I'm going to become strong. And one day, I'll become so strong that I can destroy the clans who destroyed my family. No one will be able to beat me_. Her spirits lift at the thought of it, her tears rescinding.  _Yeah. I'll become powerful. For you two. Watch over me, okay? Watch me reach my goal. And...I'll never ever make the same mistakes I made with you. I promise._


	7. 久しぶりね (Long Time No See)

-Two Years Later-

Late at night, when the moon was at its highest peak, four shinobi belonging to the Hidden Sound Village infiltrated the Hidden Leaf in search of a young boy. Their master had given them orders to seek out and bring back the child upon whom he had bestowed a powerful curse mark- and it did not take long to locate him. In the center of the village there was a park filled with trees, and a stone path winding around the middle. Sitting on the branch of one of those trees was Sasuke Uchiha, the prodigy the Sound Ninja had heard so much about. They approached him, and began to persuade him.

However—now, after a bit of resistance on Sasuke's part, Sakon holds Sasuke upside-down by the ankle and looks him over. His grayish hair lifts in the breeze; his second head hanging motionlessly behind his neck. His lips are dark, and around his neck is a string of red beads. His brow furrows as he examines the young Uchiha, displeased with what he sees. "Tch... What does Lord Orochimaru even want with this kid?" he questions disdainfully. "I don't see what the big deal is. That Haruna girl would have been much better."

Sasuke squeezes his eyes shut and grits his teeth, feeling all the blood rush to his head. He does his best to keep from panicking at the sensation, but finds it difficult due to his already-fried nerves. He is very angry – he's confused and lost. His one purpose in life has always been to kill his brother, but he has become distracted by his comrades – his team. How dare they impede his goal? And how dare _he_ become even stronger than Sasuke?

 _Just go away,_ he mentally begs the sound ninja. _I want to be alone._

He slowly opens his eyes and stares at Sakon, who had momentarily become silent. With a chuckle, Sakon continues. "Ah, well, "he sighs. "You spend all of your life in a dump of a village like this place, and you'll end up mediocre at best; never realizing your strength."

 _What is he talking about?_ Sasuke glares at him.

"If you just keep playing ninja with all your friends here, you'll continue to rot on the vine," Sakon sneers at the boy. Beside him, Tayuya, the redheaded flautist, gracefully lands on her feet in a crouch, letting out an exasperated sigh as she straightens and stares at the Uchiha boy with a look of pity.

"You're acting like a fool," she tells him condescendingly. "You should come with us... Lord Orochimaru offers you power!"

The curse mark on the back of Sasuke's neck pulses at the mention of his name. He grips it and winces in pain, letting out a grunt.

"In exchange for the curse's power," Tayuya continues, "you will be tethered to Lord Orochimaru and all semblance of freedom will be lost to you. To gain one thing, another must be sacrificed.

"But Lord Orochimaru said there would be no point in us taking you by force... So you have to decide."

Sasuke stares at her incredulously. _Could this curse mark really be that powerful?_ he wonders. _Can I even trust these guys?_

"Ugh, let's go, kid, what's it going to be?!" Sakon huffs impatiently. "If this runt makes me wait any longer, I'll wring his little neck!" With that, he flings the Uchiha across the park and directly into another tree.

"Ngh- agh!" Sasuke cries out in pain as his small twelve-year-old body is mercilessly thrown against the solid bark, and slides down it. He lands on the ground with a thump and lets out a small whimper.

The other two sound ninja – a tall, round man with a small orange tuft of hair on the top of his head, and another man with six arms like a spider – slowly make their way towards him. Tayuya and Sakon follow, the latter continuing in his ploy to prod and pressure the young boy into joining them. "What do you say, kid?"

Sasuke trembles in rage and fear, his curse mark throbbing as he sends the four a deadly glare.

"What is your purpose in this life, to stay in this backwater village, hiding with your little friends?" Tayuya questions him, folding her arms over her chest and staring down at him. "Surely, you haven't forgotten... _Itachi Uchiha_."

Sasuke's eyes grow wide, his heart clenching at the very thought of his brother, his goal.

_Him... Of course I haven't forgotten about him._

"You mustn't lose sight of your purpose," Sakon reminds him sternly. "Life in this village is little more than bondage for you... Sever your ties to this pathetic place. If you can do that, there will be no limit to the power you can wield. "

_No...limit?!_

With those words, the four leap into the night, shouting, "Remember your purpose!"

And so, young Sasuke is left alone in the darkness to consider...to weigh...to decide.

\--------------

"Where is he? He's late... Those fools, what's taking them so long?"

Orochimaru sits perched on his throne of rock within the deep recesses of his cave. His face is covered in bandages, his fist clenched tightly in frustration. He'd been waiting for _too long_ ; he was out of patience. He releases his fist and drums his fingers impatiently on the arm of his chair, huffing as he rests his cheek in his hand, glaring at his subordinate. "Well, Kabuto?!"

"Uh, m-my apologies, Lord Orochimaru," stammers the gray-haired man, nervously pushing his glasses up with his finger. "I'm not sure where they are at the moment—but rest assured, they should be arriving any time now."

The Snake Sage growls, unsatisfied with his response. "I've already had to take on another vessel instead because of them! Damn it all–" he pounds his fist on the chair and raises his voice. "–those imbeciles! Ruining my plans! I _told them_ I didn't have much time left!"

Kabuto steps closer to the throne and speaks in a calming and reassuring tone, offering his master an apologetic bow. "I'm deeply sorry for this, my  
Lord—I'll make sure to punish them severely when they return!"

Behind the two, hidden back in the shadows, stands Haruna—her arms folded over her chest and her head hung low. She is completely silent, though she secretly finds amusement in Orochimaru's temper, as can be seen by the light smirk playing on her lips. She stands motionless as her master continues threaten Kabuto with more and more elaborate punishments. _Oh,_ _I'd love to see that_ , she spitefully thinks to herself. _Why not d_ _o us both a favor_ _and just kill him._

Then she cocks her head slightly as the sound of footsteps reaches her ears underneath her master's voice. A couple seconds later they grow loud enough for the two men to hear, and Orochimaru immediately calms down and straightens visibly. "That must be them," Kabuto growls. "You can take your anger out on them soon enough, my lord." Haruna watches intently for the four ninja to appear with their cargo, but instead a lone boy appears and stands in the doorway, his face hard and determined yet a little unsure.

After a moment of stunned silence, Orochimaru smiles and speaks. "Ah, my dear Sasuke. So you came to me after all, did you?" His tone is laced with smugness and utter delight.

The raven-haired boy hesitated slightly before saying, "I assume you're Orochimaru?" Haruna's heart skips when she hears Sasuke's voice. There is no mistaking it—it's him, though his face is barely recognizable to her.

"That's right. I am still recovering from my last transformation, but it is I. Tell me, where are the other ninja I sent to you?"

The boy responded, already sounding more sure of himself: "They stayed behind to fend off pursuers from the leaf. They told me they'd catch up, and knowing who was after us they should be along any minute." He walks into the room and stands before the throne.

Kabuto speaks up, distain permeating his voice. "Well, it doesn't matter what happens to them now. I hope for their sake they don't make it back, because I intend to punish them severely for taking so long to bring you here."

"What's important is that you came to me," Orochimaru asserts as he stands and approaches the boy, reaching out to touch his cheek. Sasuke jerks away from his touch with a scowl and immediately raises his voice.

"I did; I'm here. Now tell me how you're going to make me stronger!"

Angrier, full of uncontrolled emotion, but still the boy Haruna knew. She feels her stomach contract as a wave of sadness washes over her. Memories come flooding back; memories of living in the Hidden Leaf Village. Memories she'd hoped to never revisit.

_Why him?_ _Why here? Why now?_

Orochimaru lets out a deep, evil chuckle at the boy's explosive reaction and slowly takes his seat again. "I don't think mere words could express it," he tells him with a chuckle. "However—there is someone I think you might be quite interested in duelling."

"Haruna," Orochimaru calls to her. Haruna's head snaps up immediately. "Why don't you come out and introduce yourself?"

Haruna clenches her fist, but swallows her feelings as she steps into the light, approaching Sasuke slowly and carefully, standing to face him, barely a foot away.  Sasuke looks her over, and she wonders if he recognizes her, as he doesn't seem to react to the sight of her. But then he says, at nearly a whisper, "It's been a long time... _Haruna_."


	8. 遺事 1 (Memories pt. 1)

_The dazzling hot sun shone through the dense greenery around two young children as they trained together in the tall trees of Konoha one brilliant summer day. Another day at the Academy had just ended for Sasuke Uchiha and Haruna Hyuga, who hurried off to the back forests to practice their shuriken and kunai throwing together. There was a soft breeze carrying through the village, allowing for some cool air to soothe their warmed skin that was covered in sweat from all their hard work. For hours they practiced, though most of it had turned into play, as they were still small kids with short attention spans. The sun had set and the sky was filled with deep shades of red and orange; a relaxing backdrop for the two as they finally laid down on the grass, panting from all their running around and sore from the constant throwing of ninja tools. At last, they had finished training for the day._

_Sasuke, breathing heavily as he had just finished chasing his younger Hyuga friend around the trees in a game of tag, looked over at Haruna with a warm smile. "That was fun," he breathed._

_Haruna grinned and nodded in agreement, also breathless from the exercise. "Yeah," she got out after a moment or two, giggling in delight. "And I hit more targets than you, so I won this time! That means you owe me a present." She sat up and gave him a smug smirk as she continued, "This time, I want food._ Lots _of food."_

_"Agh," Sasuke groaned, pushing himself up as well. "I got you food last time...why is it always food with you..."_

_At this, Haruna pouted. "Sometimes we don't have much food at home," she admitted, picking at the grass. "So if I win against you and you get me food, momma won't have to worry so much."_

_Young Sasuke's heart hurt when he heard this. He'd had no idea of her family's hardship. He figured that, living in the Uchiha Compound like the rest of them, she would be taken care of...but then he remembered seeing how all the adults looked at her most of the time, and frowned. "I didn't know you weren't getting much food," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry."_

_"It's okay, Sasuke-niichan," Haruna said with a bright, optimistic smile; changing her tune rather suddenly. "Even though we are hungry sometimes, momma always works hard and does her best, so I know things will be okay. I just..." she lowered her voice a little bit and leaned closer, not wanting anyone to know what she was about to say, "...really want some dumplings," she confessed in a hushed whisper, as if it was the most horrifying thing to come clean about._

_Sasuke giggled a bit and nodded. "I get it. Dumplings are delicious--they're my favorite, too. So I'll make sure to bring you some next time. Deal?"_

_Haruna nodded excitedly and tackled Sasuke in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed, rolling him around in the grass as she crushed him in her small embrace._

_Sasuke squeaked as he was squished in the girl's arms and rolled, but he ended up laughing in the end, grateful to have a friend like her. It helped when his older brother Itachi couldn't play with him or help him train._

_The young Hyuga finally let go of him and stood up, brushing the grass off of her clothes before offering her hand to the older boy. "Let's go, Nii-chan," she said to him. "My mom's gonna be mad if I'm late for dinner, and I know your Kaa-san won't be happy, either."_

_Sasuke couldn't argue with her, and grabbed her hand to pull himself up, brushing his own clothes off. Then he took her hand again, giving her a tender smile. "I'll walk you home, though. Okay?"_

_"Okay!" Haruna replied joyfully, swinging their arms as they walked out of the forest and headed back to their homes._

_\-----_

" _...Sasuke Uchiha,_ " Haruna finally speaks up.This was the boy she had been best friends with since she was very small. She hadn't seen him since she was six--but her memories at that age were the only ones she could really recall. Staring at him now, she can tell that he has changed in so many ways. The once kind and gentle boy had been replaced with a raging beast who seemed to be so full of hatred. 

_What on earth could have happened to make him like this?_

The last thing she would ever want at this point is to see someone from her past. _Especially_  someone she had been so close to. Once again, more feelings begin to creep up on her; her stomach churning again and again until she was on the point of throwing up. The room begins to slowly spin around her, her heart rate increasing rapidly. That feeling was coming again. Quickly, she swallows it all down, taking a breath to steady herself. 

_I can do this. I have to._

"So you know each other, do you?" Orochimaru's amused chuckle rings through the spacious room they stand in, slicing through the reminiscent aura and jerking the adolescents back into reality. "Regardless! You're wasting time. Don't just stand there; fight!" 

Haruna, sick of all her feelings--and her master--slips her hand into her kunai holster slowly and extracts a knife. Sasuke tenses and steels himself, taking out his own knife. The two stare at each other long and hard for a moment, the room utterly silent. 

 _Why do I have to fight him?_ Haruna wonders bitterly. _Why do I have to even look at him?_

Putting aside her curiosities, she lunges at the boy with all her might. She raises her knife to take a swipe at him, but Sasuke easily deflects it with his own weapon, having already been prepared for her attack. He glares at her and knocks her kunai out of the way, taking a swipe at her throat. Haruna flips backwards in time to dodge, taking out a couple of shuriken all the while, which she tosses at him when she lands. Sasuke's eyes widen when he notices them and he quickly hits them out of the air, running at her again. Wanting to get rid of his knife, he throws it at the girl--but is surprised to find that she was no longer in front of him. He glares and looks left and right, trying to find her, and just as he was about to turn and look behind him, he is thrown forward several feet into a wall by Haruna's strong kick. Haruna haughtily approaches him, kunai drawn and ready to attack. Sasuke, who had landed roughly against the wall and turned as he slid to the floor, grunts and quickly weaves signs for fireball jutsu. Taking a deep breath, he expels from his chest the biggest fireball he can manage. Haruna gasps and jumps out of the way in time, her foot getting slightly grazed by the flames. She lets out a loud growl and activates her _Byakugan_ , finally getting serious. She trains her eyes on the boy, who had stood up and recovered from his fall. _Two can play at this game,_  she decides, weaving the signs for the same technique that had just been used on her. She draws a breath and an enormous fireball erupts from her, launching straight at Sasuke. She barely hears Orochimaru screech from some corner in the room not to destroy his hideout, _please._  

Her lips curved in a smirk, she decides to play things differently. She hops over several feet to her left and weaves signs for a wind-style technique that had been taught to her recently, sending a strong gust of wind at the boy she'd just tried to burn to death. The wind effectively smothers the fire, and reveals a large hole in the wall that her fireball had created... _but Sasuke is nowhere to be seen._

This time, it's Haruna's turn to look around for him. Above? Beside? Behind? _He isn't even behind her._ Haruna whirls around in confusion, using her _Byakugan_  to search within the walls to find him. But of course, she had forgotten one direction to look in, and is unable to dodge the sudden punch that came from directly below her as Sasuke exploded up from the ground, his fist poised up and making harsh contact with her chin. The blow sends her flying into the opposite wall, leaving another huge, lasting mark in its stone. Orochimaru lets out a groan from his corner. 

Sasuke lets out a conceited chuckle as he steps over to the slumped Haruna, her body in agony from the force of her fall. "You've definitely grown stronger," he says to her, his voice full of so much anger and contempt that it hurts Haruna to even hear it, "but you're definitely still lacking. You have a _Byakugan_  and you couldn't even tell that I was right beneath you." By now, he has stopped not two feet away from her and gazes down with a look of victory on his face. "Pathetic," he spits. "So disappointing. Looks like I've won this time... _Haruna._ "

 _It's so sad to see him like this,_  she thinks to herself, her heart aching even more. _I wonder what could have happened..._ But she once again shakes off her feelings and locks them away, done with them. Instead, she comes up with a fast plan. Shakily, she lifts an arm to point behind Sasuke, giving him a blank gaze. Bewildered, Sasuke slowly turns and looks in the direction she had pointed in. At that very instant, Haruna used Substitution to replace herself with a table that had been knocked to the side and was standing behind the two, and gathered up her strength into one mighty punch square in the middle of Sasuke's face. 

The force of her powerful strike knocks Sasuke back, but Haruna isn't finished yet. She leaps over to him before he can land and throws another punch--one that instead lands in Sasuke's hand as he catches it and twists her arm around until a loud _crack_  is heard. Haruna screams out in pain and lands on the ground, cradling her wounded limb. Sasuke lands on his feet beside her, seemingly shaken up by the direct blow to his face, but still standing, unlike Haruna. A large bruise has already formed on his nose, which seems to be bleeding, and Haruna wonders if she may have broken it. But if that had been the case, how could Sasuke be standing now? How can he be so calm when he must be in so much pain?

"Pathetic," Sasuke repeats himself, shaking his head at the injured Haruna.

Haruna realizes in that moment how weak she must seem to him, and suddenly filled with rage, she pushes herself up, trembling from the pain as she struggles to ignore it. "You...asshole," she spits at him. As she steadies herself on her feet, she realizes that her arm may not be broken, after all. She lifts it a bit, straightening it and bending it, and finds that though it's sore as hell, she can still move it just fine. _Perfect._

"Hmph," Sasuke scoffs at her. "What are you even doing here, Haruna? Are you _trying to get stronger?_  It doesn't look like that's going to happen for you. You should just quit while you're ahead." 

"Aagghhh!" Haruna merely screams in reply, lunging at him with her hurt arm to deal him a blow that would hopefully stick this time. Sasuke, however, dodges out of the way and kicks her knees in from behind, causing her to collapse on the floor. She lands face-first, her rage increasing rapidly. She silently activates her _Byakugan_  and watches Sasuke approach her from behind. 

"Just give up already; you're only making a fool of yourself." His icy words cut at her more than she likes. But she waits in silence for him to get a little closer...

 _Smack!_ She shoots her leg up and kicks him in the jaw, sending him flying backwards. She pushes herself up to standing and whirls around, once again weaving signs--but this time, for a jutsu she hadn't used yet. Holding her hand out in front of her, fingers tightly closed together and palm flat, she approaches Sasuke swiftly and raises her hand, giving him a harsh slap across the face. With that, he falls right over and hits the floor with a deafening scream before falling unconscious right where he lay. 

Haruna huffs in triumph and draws her leg back, kicking his limp body once for good measure. "Jerk," she mutters, stepping over him and walking towards her master, who had watched the entire battle unfold from the safety of his corner. In the dim light, she could clearly see his golden snake eyes full of delight, and as she stands before him, she notices the smirk that had spread across his face. 

"Well done, my child," the man hisses at Haruna. "Tell me, what did you do with him? You didn't kill him, did you?" 

"No," Haruna replied flatly. "I simply used the ninjutsu that Kabuto taught me. I sent chakra straight into his head to knock him out cold." 

A deep, satisfied chuckle erupts from the sage. "Excellent." He pauses, looking his potential vessel up and down. "You know, for a moment there, you had me worried...," he tells her. "I really thought Sasuke had you."

"Whatever," spits the girl, flipping her hand dismissively in the air. "I let him think he had a chance. Then I took advantage of him. Just like you taught me,  _Master._ " Lies, all of it. But what did she care? As long as her master was happy, she was happy. 

Orochimaru once again chuckles, pleased with his young student. "You performed beautifully," he says to her with a pat on the head. "Now run along and get yourself cleaned up. I'll take care of Sasuke here." 

Haruna nods and gives her master a deep bow before taking off, unable to shake the pain in her chest. The world seems to slow down around her as the adrenaline from the fight wears off, and she begins to shake. She doesn't go to Kabuto's office for a bandage like she should. Instead, she runs to her room and locks the door behind her, falling to the floor and sobbing as silently as she can. 

\-------

 _"Haruna-chan!" Sasuke's tender voice rang through the streets as the young Uchiha raced as fast as he could to his younger friend's house. "Haruna-chaann!" In his hand, he carried a box tied up carefully by a piece of cute fabric. It was a gift for her and her mother, and it was imperative that he give it to her_ immediately. _At least, that's what his mother had told him. "_ _Haruna-chan!?"  he screamed as he finally made it to her doorstep. He clambered up the front steps and let himself in, knowing her mother wouldn't be upset if she were home and found him there. "Haruna-chan! I have something for you!"_

_Upstairs, Haruna was fast asleep in her bed. It was Saturday morning, and she was at last able to sleep in. Though she was quite young, she never seemed to get enough sleep and was constantly yawning. Her mother had been worried and told her to stay in bed longer than normal that day, insisting that she needed rest, too. When Sasuke's calling had finally reached her ears and dragged her up from the depths of slumber, she slowly blinked her eyes open and rubbed them, whimpering a bit at having been woken up. "Nii-chan," she called to him quietly. "I'm up here..."_

_Sasuke heard her stir and finally speak, and bolted up the stairs to her bedroom, smiling as he entered and saw her still in bed. "You just woke up?" he asked her with a laugh. "It's almost the afternoon!"_

_Haruna sleepily sat up and continued to rub her eyes, her vision a bit blurry from having slept so long. "Momma told me to stay in bed longer today because I don't sleep enough," she said, her voice a bit whiny. "What are you doing here, nii-chan?"_

_"Ah! I came to give you this!" he said proudly, plopping the package down on her bed. "Kaa-san said I have to give it to you immediately."_

_Haruna tilted her head inquisitively as she stared at it. "What is it...?" she asked._

_"W-well," Sasuke began, his cheeks reddening. He looked away shyly before continuing, "I-I sort of  told my mom that you don't always get food, and she was very sad. So this morning, when I woke up, I saw her making lots of food and putting it in a box. Then she said to me, 'Sasuke, I need you to take this to Haruna and her mother right away!'" He did the best impression he could of his mother, to which Haruna couldn't help but giggle. It was surprisingly similar. "So I did, and here I am! Lots of food for you!" He gestured to the box with open hands and a big smile._

_The girl teared up and stared at the box for a minute or two, sniffling as tears started to pour down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the backs of her hands, but couldn't help it as she began to cry harder. Sasuke became terrified that he had done something wrong and shoved the box out of the way, scooting closer to the crying girl and wrapped his arms around her._

_"H-haruna-chan? What's wrong? D-did I do something wrong?" he asked her in a panic as he patted her head, desperately wishing she would stop crying._

_"N-no, no, Nii-chan," Haruna whispered and clung to the older boy for comfort. "I'm just so happy...Momma will be happy when she comes home and finds food in the fridge...And now we can have dinner every night!"_

_Sasuke smiled and felt himself tearing up as well. He hugged the girl tightly to his chest for a few more moments before pulling away to wipe her tears away. "You don't need to cry if you're happy," he rationalized, only wanting to console her. "Let's be happy! Let's put the food away for your mom and clean the house for her! Then when she comes home, she'll be so happy, too!"_

_Haruna nodded and smiled, too, so grateful for her friend, and excited at the thought of her mother coming home happy. She bounced out of bed and ran around it to grab the box of food. "Come on then, Nii-chan! Let's make the house nice and clean for my momma!"_

_"Alright!" Sasuke laughed and hopped down, and the two ran down the stairs, ready to make the house spotless just for Haruna's mother._


	9. 遺事 2 (Memories pt. 2)

Haruna's eyes snap open as the dream comes to an abrupt end. Her bedroom is pitch dark and the air is slightly cold, just the way she prefers. She lays still for several moments as she slowly comes to reality, and the first thing she notices is that her cheeks are wet. They're soaked. She slowly lifts her hand to touch them, and finally realizes that she's been crying. _What, all this for a dream?_  She wonders in disdain at herself as she slowly sits up, rubbing her temples. Sighing, she knows that she won't be getting anymore sleep tonight, though she is surprised by how much she'd managed to get already. She swings her legs over the bed and stands up, hissing as her burned foot brushes against the fabric of the sheets. Her arm throbs as well, and then she remembers the events of the day before. "Ugh," she mutters, rubbing her hurt arm. She never had gone to get herself a bandage. She's in pain, so she decides to get up and take care of herself. She hobbles across the room and opens her door, and let out a surprised yelp as she is met with the boy she'd fought with earlier. 

Her eyes narrow as he stares at her blankly. From the dim lighting of the candles on the wall, she can see that his face is badly bruised, and there is a red hand-shaped mark on his cheek where she had slapped him with her chakra before. Despite being obviously beaten up, he stands before her like it's nothing, his arms folded over his chest as if he were waiting for something. 

"What do _you_  want," Haruna growls at him, resisting the urge to shove him away and just leave without hearing his answer. 

But Sasuke just stares at her quietly, not a word leaving his lips. He seems to be thinking about something very deeply, his gaze hard and intense. Haruna stares back at him, her patience growing thinner and thinner. Time passes slower than ever, and eventually Haruna loses it. But just as she is about to turn and leave, Sasuke speaks up. 

"You...seem a lot different from the last time I saw you," he says to her, his voice free of the utter contempt she had heard earlier, though it was still clipped and terse. "The last place I would expect you to be is here, with this guy. Honestly, I thought you were dead." 

Haruna narrows her eyes at the other, thrown off by his sudden change in countenance. What on earth could he be talking about? 

"After you and your mother were run out of the village," Sasuke continues, "I was told never to speak about you again. I really thought you'd been killed..." He trails off and seems to gather himself before continuing. His next words shock her: "...I'm...glad to see that wasn't true." 

Haruna's eyes grow huge before narrowing even more, rage boiling up inside her. "Just what are you playing at, Sasuke Uchiha?!" she demands furiously. "You were talking down to me just yesterday--you tried to kill me! And now you're trying to tell me that you're glad I'm still alive?!"

Sasuke stares at her and says nothing. 

"And you know," Haruna goes on after not receiving a response, "I could say the same thing to you! You've changed a lot, too! Why are _you_  here with this guy? What would your parents say if they found out you'd left the village for this slime ball?" She lowers her voice before insulting her master, hoping no one heard her, though part of her doesn't care either way. "And your brother! He would be so disappointed if-" 

"Shut...up...about my family...," Sasuke seethes between his teeth, his eyes glowing red. He had suddenly become angry again, much to Haruna's bemusement. "You have no idea what they would say! They couldn't say anything, anyways!" he adds as several small, black marks spread across his body and his skin seems to change in pigment; turning more gray than looked healthy. 

Haruna takes a step back, frightened by this change in Sasuke's appearance, and by his words. "What do you mean...they couldn't say anything?" she asks, backing off slightly in her tone. She watches, bewildered as his once blood-red sharingan seems to phase into a golden color in his right eye. 

"Because...They're...Dead...!" he hisses, his voice lowering as if a demon had suddenly taken over his body. "They're all dead! All of them!" 

Utterly astonished, Haruna stares at him blinkingly as his form slowly changes. She vaguely remembers Orochimaru mentioning something about a curse mark; perhaps this is it. But then, Sasuke's words finally sink in and the depth of their meaning hits her so hard, she nearly loses her balance. _They're dead. All of them._ Does this mean...? 

"S-sasuke," Haruna says quietly, confused and desperate for an explanation. Her mind spirals as she attempts to come up with one on her own; her veins growing cold as she slowly comes to realize that her goal of destroying the Uchiha may have just been achieved for her...by someone else. _How dare they!_ Whoever they were, Haruna grew more and more furious with them by the second. "Who...did this," she hisses at the equally livid boy in front of her. 

It takes a moment for Sasuke to be able to form the word; visibly struggling to make his mouth work in order to get out the name. The few seconds it takes seem like decades to Haruna, who is more than ready to find whoever had stolen her purpose away and _eradicate them._

"...Itachi...," Sasuke finally grumbles, his mysterious phasing seeming to come to a halt, though his anger had definitely not subsided. "Itachi killed them. But he left me. Just me. And now I need to find him...and destroy him."

_I...ta...chi..._

_No..._

Like the flame of a candle being blown out by the wind, all of her rage suddenly leaves her, knocking her to her knees as she tries to wrap her mind around this new, terrifying information. Her heart sinks to the floor as memories come pouring into her mind. Memories of Itachi. Not a single one was bad. She knew that Itachi, of all people, would not be one to kill a fly, let alone his entire clan. So there was no way this was true. Haruna cannot fathom this idea. It's too much for her. Slowly, she shakes her head back and forth. "No...," she murmurs, barely feeling the tears that are sliding down her cheeks. "It's not true." 

In front of her, Sasuke grunts in pain as he tries to fight back against his curse mark. "It's...t-true, Haruna," he snarls. "Do you think I would make a joke like that?!" 

Haruna knows he wouldn't. She knows Sasuke loved his family--especially his brother--more than anything. Taking that information into account, she realized just how much pain Sasuke must be in. Slowly, she looks up at the struggling boy before her. She opens her mouth to say something, but suddenly remembers the dream she'd just had--and then, the rest of the memory comes to her.

\------

_As the two children swept, dusted, wiped, and organized the house, there was a knock at the door that caused them both to jump. The younger let out a small yelp and snapped her head towards the door, dropping the duster she'd been using onto the ground. She glanced at her friend, who had been in the middle of wiping the table with a cloth. He looked back at her, and then with a shrug, called out:_

_"Who is it?"_

_The door opened and in stepped Itachi, wearing his casual clothes. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail, as always, and a gentle smile was planted on his lips. In his hand, he carried a basket full of cleaning supplies, and in his other hand, he held a broom._

_"Hello, Haruna," he greeted the youngest with a small, polite bow of his head as he entered her home. Then he glanced at his younger brother and said fondly, "Hello, Sasuke."_

_"Nii-chan!" the two children called out excitedly when they saw him. Sasuke dropped his cloth and ran with Haruna to the eldest boy, hugging his legs tightly. Itachi chuckled and set his things down, returning the embrace._

_"What are you doing here, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, staring up in adoration at his older brother._

_"Well," Itachi replied, his smile never wavering, "mother sent me over to clean Haruna-chan's house and take care of her while her mother is at work. But seeing is how you're already here, Sasuke, I don't think I'll be needed."_

_"No, no, no!" Haruna cried, clinging to her favorite older brother figure. "You have to stay! You're not allowed to leave!"_

_"Yeah!" Sasuke chimed in, pouting at the thought of him disappearing again. "No leaving!"_

_"A-aahh," Itachi chuckled nervously, patting each of their heads. "Alright, I'll stay and help you, then."_

_"Yay!" the two small children squealed and crushed the eldest's legs as tightly as they could._

_Itachi chuckled and carefully peeled them off so he could take off his shoes, picking up his basket. He looked around the house and nodded approvingly. "Hey, the house looks pretty great, you guys," he said, silently noting the pile of toys obviously shoved under the coffee table in hopes of remaining unnoticed. He softly laughed and walked into the kitchen, where he knew he would be working, as the kids were too small yet to reach the sink. "Keep it up, okay? I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."_

_"Thanks!" Haruna beamed with pride as she was praised for her cleaning job._

_Sasuke also smiled, picking his cloth up again and continuing his work on the table. "Okay, Nii-chan," he replied to Itachi's final statement._

_By the time Haruna's mother returned home, obviously frazzled and tired, the house was completely spotless, and a huge, delicious meal was sitting on the table, waiting for her. Sitting around it waiting for her were her daughter, and Itachi and Sasuke. Bewildered at the guests and shocked by the cleanliness of the house, she slowly set down her bags and peeked at them._

_"Hello, dear," she said to Haruna, her voice tired. "Hello, Sasuke...Hello, Itachi..."_

_"Hello, Natsumi-san," the Uchiha brothers politely greeted her, standing up to bow._

_"Momma!" Haruna squealed, jumping up and rushing to her mother to hug her tightly._

_"Oof," her mother grunted as her daughter ran into her legs and gave her a small smile, hugging her tightly. "Hello, dear." She lifted Haruna up and hugged her as she clung to her neck. Glancing at the spread on the table and giving Itachi a pointed look, she said, "What's all this?"_

_Itachi gave her a warm smile and said, "My mother heard you've been working hard all by yourself and wanted to help, so she sent me over to help...And when I arrived, those two had already begun cleaning the house all by themselves." He gave them a proud grin._

_Haruna's mother, Nastumi, began to tear up at this, pressing her lips together in an attempt to keep her cool. She shook her head as she looked all around, and then said to her daughter, "Haruna...did you and Sasuke-kun clean the house for me?"_

_Haruna lifted her head from her mother's shoulder and nodded proudly, smiling widely. "Yes, we did! And then Itachi-Niisan came over and made us dinner! And there's lots here for you, too!"_

_Natsumi began to cry just a little and laughed, kissing her daughter's cheeks before turning to the boys. "Thank you, Sasuke, you and Haruna did an amazing job."_

_Sasuke bowed and politely replied, "You're welcome, Natsumi-San!"_

_Natsumi then looked at Itachi  and was overwhelmed with gratitude. "Itachi-kun...Thank you. Please tell your mother I really appreciate her thoughts."_

_Itachi smiled and stepped over to her, offering to take Haruna and urging her to sit and eat. That night, Natsumi and Haruna slept soundly. And after that day, Itachi was almost always over to help out when he wasn't busy, and Natsumi couldn't have been more grateful._

_\------_

Haruna doesn't fight the tears anymore. She had loved and respected Itachi like an older brother, and the news Sasuke had just sprung upon her made her heart break in ways she didn't know it could. She stares at the raven-haired boy as he desperately tries to sedate whatever beast is inside him, silently sorting through every thought and emotion that surrounds her. One by one, she puts them back where they belong, starting at the beginning to try and make sense of it all. She reminds herself that she had come here with a specific purpose--to destroy the two clans that had destroyed her family. With one gone, she only has the other left...but at this point, she realizes, she's so bitter and angry that her goal was achieved without her that she believes her next plan of action should be to avenge the loss of it. Blinded by her grief, she nearly forgets her rage towards the Hyuga clan and instead, directs her attention towards the current situation. 

Gingerly, she takes one step forward, and then another, until she's right in front of Sasuke. The boy stares at her intently, his gaze furious, though she can sense that it is also crying out for help. Unsure of what to do, she glances around until she finds the source of the black markings; the curse mark on the back of his neck. Straightening her fingers and flattening her palm, she focuses her chakra to her hand and gently places it on the mark, in hopes of giving him some extra power to hold in the beast. Sasuke grunts as his chakra level is suddenly increased, seemingly growing stronger by the moment. Eventually, the markings recede back to their original place until they disappear completely, his skin returning to its normal shade and his sharingan reverting back to red and then shutting off completely. Once the threat seems to leave, Haruna takes her hand off of the boy and watches as he collapses to the floor, panting. Time seems to slow to a stop, and it takes a few moments for Haruna to tell her legs to bend so she can squat down in front of the boy. A few moments more, and then she finally speaks. 

"What...was that," she asks him quietly. 

"Second...state," Sasuke grunts after a bit of struggling. "Orochimaru put a curse mark on me...that's why I was forced to return to him..." 

Haruna frowns and makes a mental note to try and eventually destroy that curse mark. But for now, she sits herself down and crosses her legs, watching him intently. The two say nothing for quite a long time; the only audible sounds being their breathing, and for Haruna, her incessantly loud heartbeat that just won't seem to settle down. Everything she had been working towards is now changed, and it is so much to take in. So she sits there, spending several minutes just trying to accept the way things had turned out. 

After a long while, she finally lifts her eyes and speaks. "Sasuke," she says quietly. 

"What?" 

"What are you going to do...since Itachi did that..." No response. Sasuke's dark eyes wander around rapidly, almost as if he is trying to hold back tears. "Are...you going to get revenge?" Haruna inquires, her voice even softer than before. 

"...Yes," he replies after a few seconds, his voice flat and once again full of the hatred she'd heard yesterday. "Of course I am. He killed my family. The entire clan. Do you know what he said when he spared me?"

"No," Haruna replies. "What did he say...?"

"He told me that he killed the clan to test the limits of his abilities. He said that all he'd done, treating me like he loved me, being the big brother I needed...he did it all so I would hate him. He did it all for his benefit. All this time..." 

Haruna's frown deepens, her fists curling up tightly. "Unforgivable," she mutters. "He deceived us the whole time..." Her brow furrows as her hatred grows towards Itachi. It hurts so much to hate him, but it seems to Haruna that she has no choice. 

Sasuke watches her warily. "What are _you_  going to do about it?" he asks her. "You were part of the clan, too." 

 _Yeah, and I wish I wasn't,_  she wants to say, but holds her tongue. She realizes that if she speaks badly about the clan, it won't blow over well with Sasuke at all. So instead, she simply replies, "Yes...I was." Suddenly, she realizes exactly what she has to do. She straightens and looks Sasuke right in the eyes. "Sasuke," she says, "let's get rid of him together. Let's make him pay for what he did to our family." The words "our family" feel hollow and wrong leaving her mouth, but she says them anyways, wanting desperately to have Sasuke on her side. 

After staring at her for a long time, Sasuke bitterly says to her, "My entire purpose up to this point is to eradicate him. I don't want to share that with someone else." 

Haruna knows _exactly_  how he feels. "I guess so, but don't you think he'd be really strong?" she rationalizes. "Do you really think you'd be able to take him on _all by yourself?_  He was able to slaughter _the entire clan_  by himself. You and I both know how powerful the Uchiha are. I think it will work better if we stick together." 

Sasuke glowers at her, a low growl sounding from his throat. 

Haruna frowns. "I know you hate the idea...but we both hate him and want revenge." It wasn't a lie. "So we may as well just do it together rather than work against each other. What good will that do?" She very much wants to convince Sasuke, knowing that having him with her would be extremely beneficial. But the boy still seems skeptical, so Haruna presses on. "We can train together under Orochimaru for a few more years, then leave him when we're strong enough. Then we can seek out Itachi and slaughter him _,_  together." The more she thinks about it, the more she loves the idea. 

Sasuke lets out an exasperated sigh. "Fine," he concedes. "We'll stick together, then. But you had better not drag me down. Because if you do, I _will_ kill you." His gaze hardens, unwavering, as if to prove his point. 

Haruna swallows and nods apprehensively. "I won't," she promises. 


	10. 誰も信じられない (You can't trust anyone)

As the days turned into months and months turned into years, Haruna and Sasuke trained and trained, getting stronger each day. They both learned many new jutsu and fighting techniques; Sasuke polished his Lightning Style and Haruna continued her Medical Ninjutsu training with Kabuto. She practiced hard each day to perfect it until her technique was flawless. Sasuke, meanwhile, continued to hone his visual prowess; his genjutsu capabilities constantly increasing. And, of course, the two made time every day to battle each other; some days with Taijutsu, others with Ninjutsu--and some days, they even used their special eyes to battle. The slit on Haruna's forehead only opened once, when she and Sasuke got into a huge fight and she couldn't fully control her anger. When that happened, she finally learn what the slit was--it held a third eye, similar to the Sharingan, but not quite the same. That was all either of them could figure out, and since she couldn't activate it unless she was under extreme stress, they decided to leave it be, promising each other not to let any of this be known to Kabuto or Orochimaru.

Now, three years later, Sasuke is age 15 while Haruna is 14. The hideout they are staying in lies underground in a barren desert, only accessible through Earth Style jutsu. Surrounding the base are several dead-looking trees and large rocks, and crows constantly fly about and bother them. However, since they are in the middle of nowhere, it is highly unlikely that someone of consequence would stumble upon their hideout, which means that Haruna and Sasuke can regularly train outside.

At this point in time, however, the two are waiting inside, sitting at the back of rather dark room and quietly conversing. The only lighting in the dim room comes from the brightly lit hallway that leads to it, and from where they are sitting, they would hardly be seen. The room is wide and deep, with a large bench along half of the back wall, which they are sitting on. At the back of the bench is a wooden sculpture of a giant snake; fitting for whom the area belongs to. Haruna, full of disgust towards snakes and reptiles in general, ignores the offensive wood behind her and instead focuses on Sasuke as he speaks to her of his frustrations in a hushed tone.

"Where the hell is he?! He said he'd be here almost an hour ago!"

Haruna rolls her eyes a bit and picks at her clothes. "I dunno. Maybe he got tied up on the way or something."

" _Tch,_ that's no excuse," scoffs Sasuke, shifting in his spot.

"It's not like he could control it," is Haruna's sarcastic reply. "Besides, at least we get to relax for a bit..."

"We don't have _time_ to relax, Haruna!" he seethes. Haruna's eyes widen immensely as she watches Sasuke reach for the katana on his back. He narrows his eyes at her in warning.

Sasuke's words from years ago echo in her ears again: _'If you drag me down, I will kill you.'_

With a gulp, Haruna decides to backtrack. "...Wh-what I mean is...-"

But before she can explain herself, three figures, one much taller than the rest, enter from the bright hallway, casting large shadows on the floor before them. It takes a relieved Haruna a moment, but she finally realizes who they are--Orochimaru and Kabuto. _Finally, they get here,_ she mentally grumbles. Then she notices the boy in between them and gives him a curious look, though she realizes he won't see.

From beside her, Sasuke slides his gaze over to the three, the same glare remaining. "...You're late," he states, contempt apparent in his tone. "If I'm not mistaken, you were supposed to be here to help us hone a new jutsu this afternoon...Orochimaru."

Kabuto juts out his chin and sends the two a condescending glare, like a frustrated parent. "There's that insolent tone again," he sighs.

Ororchimaru smirks and tilts his head affectionately, his voice honey sweet as he says, "Try not to be too upset...I thought we'd do something a little different today, so I brought along a little present for the two of you." His eyes shift over to the dark-haired boy standing in between him and Kabuto, continuing on in his explanation. "He's a Leaf Shinobi, just like you, Sasuke. I thought you'd like to get together and... _reminisce._ Swap stories of home."

Sasuke tenses, though only Haruna can see it. He clenches his teeth tightly as his _Sharingan_ silently activates and he stares hatefully at the Leaf ninja Orochimaru had brought. Haruna gives him a once over, wondering if she would recognize him from her days at the academy. She does not. His skin is sickly pale, his midriff exposed by his short black shirt and low-rise pants. His hair is short and neat; his eyes wide and dark. Standing at medium height with a slender build, he is definitely attractive to her. Based on his gentle facial features, he seems sort of timid, and sweet. She wonders how deadly he must truly be to have Orochimaru of all people notice him.

"... _Hmph,_ " is all Sasuke says to this. Haruna glances at him, watching his face. He's definitely pissed, but he keeps his cool anyways. Typical Sasuke.

To her surprise, the Leaf boy smiles, his eyes squishing closed as his cheeks push them up. _What in the world, he even has an eye smile._ Already, she can tell that things will be great with this shinobi.

"So, I presume...," the boy begins to speak, almost tentatively, "...you're Sasuke Uchiha. My name is Sai, and it's a pl-"

"Get lost," Sasuke snarls, cutting him off. The action jars Haruna a bit, who had been watching _Sai_ intently but is now staring at her comrade in bewilderment. _Jeez, you didn't have to interrupt him,_ she thinks to herself, rolling her eyes.

Orochimaru glances at the new recruit momentarily as if gauging his reaction to Sasuke's rudeness. Even Kabuto peers down at him uneasily. Nevertheless, Sai stands there in silence, the smile never leaving his face. After a moment more, he presses on, shrugging his shoulders. "...It seems I'm the kind of person that people don't like right away, even if I wear a smile," he states, his face still contorted in the exact same manner.

Haruna begins to see how mechanical his actions are, and a frown crosses over her face. _He's just like a robot._

Sai straightens and continues, " _Naruto_ took an instant disliking towards me as well."

At the mention of that name, Sasuke freezes in his spot, his eyes narrowing. Haruna senses the terrible aura oozing from her comrade and stares at him apprehensively.

"However, I have a funny feeling that you and I will get along much better than I did with him."

Haruna is beyond curious now, but says nothing aloud. Instead, she asks the obvious questions in her head: _Who is this Naruto? And how does Sasuke know him...?_

Beside her, Sasuke glares at Sai, his fists which had been planted on his lap clenching so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. But as before, only Haruna can see this much. His eyes slowly widen, and Haruna turns her gaze back to the Leaf ninja, who after a moment, loses his seemingly automated countenance and takes a step back in fear. His eyes are gaping, his lips parted as beads of sweat begin forming on his forehead and slip down the sides of his face. Even from where Haruna is, she can see the boy trembling in his spot. Confused, she glances over at Sasuke to find the tomoe in his _Sharingan_ spinning a little, and she realizes all at once that Sasuke has used a genjutsu on him. _Great,_ she thinks to herself. _Scare him, why don't you._ Typical Sasuke.

Sai, meanwhile, continues to take step after step backwards in horror until he loses his balance and falls, landing right on his butt with a grunt.

"Sasuke!" Kabuto shouts, clearly fed up with his antics.

Sasuke says nothing; does nothing. Haruna lets out a small huff as Sai begins to dab his face with the back of his gloved hand, staring at it in shock. He looks back and forth between Sasuke and his damp hand, seemingly unable to fathom what had just happened. Haruna smirks. Sasuke's definitely going to have _lots_ of fun with this guy.

At this point, Orochimaru turns to the Leaf ninja on the ground. "It's...probably not a good idea to provoke Sasuke too much," he advises him. "He's even more difficult than I am..." A smile can be heard in his voice.

After a moment, Sasuke speaks up again. "...I don't care about this guy," he says bluntly. With a tap on Haruna's arm, he rises to his feet, his _Sharingan_ disappearing shortly after. Haruna follows him.

"Come on, Orochimaru," Haruna calls to him. "Let's go."

"I've...heard a lot about you," Sai offers from his place on the ground as he, too, gets to his feet. He seems to have regained his composure. "From Naruto...It seems he's been searching for you all this time--for three years, now."

Haruna shoots Sasuke a confused look that goes completely unnoticed. Her comrade instead fixes his gaze on Sai, never losing his hateful glower.

"...I remember someone like that," Sasuke mutters back at the boy, who stares, blank-faced at him. Sasuke says nothing more on the subject, however, and simply echoes his younger comrade in saying: "Orochimaru, let's go." He turns to leave and grabs Haruna's wrist, obviously wanting to drag her away and leave as quickly as possible.

"You mean a great deal to Naruto," Sai continues, though Sasuke had clearly attempted to put an end to the conversation. Sasuke's grip tightens around Haruna's wrist, causing the girl to frown. "He thinks of you as a brother. At least...that's what _Sakura_ told me."

_Another new name?_

Sasuke's jaw clenches as a vein forms on his temple, and Haruna watches him worriedly. Could these be people he'd left behind when he defected from the Leaf Village? And if so, how did Sai know them? And why is he so insistently bringing them up right in front of Sasuke? Haruna's protective instincts begin to kick in and she turns to look at the boy, preparing to tell him off, but Sasuke beats her to the punch. Shifting his eyes to the Leaf shinobi and giving him the most spiteful glare, he says to him, "As far as brothers go, I have only one--the one that I must kill." He glances at the girl for only a moment.

" _We_ ," she whispers back at him with a glare.

Sai continues to stare at him, his expression unreadable. Finally, he goes silent, and Sasuke takes this opportunity to exit, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Haruna gives Sai one last glare of her own before doing the same.

\------  
  


The next few hours are spent in training as Orochimaru teaches the two a brand new technique--sensing others' chakra without the use of their eyes. Sasuke seems to master it with ease, picking out Kabuto's and Sai's chakra almost effortlessly. Haruna, on the other hand, has a bit of trouble figuring out how to make it work, and constantly finds herself accidentally activating her _Byakugan_  instead. However, Orochimaru is patient, and assures her that she will get it down eventually. Haruna feels bitter about losing to Sasuke once again, though the boy never gloated or mocked her. 

Later, Sasuke and Haruna are walking down one of the numerous hallways in the seemingly endless cavern, talking quietly between themselves, Haruna's arms folded over her chest. She decides that now is the time to ask him (for the second time; she had been merely brushed off earlier before they'd started their training) who those people were that Sai had been talking about. Taking a breath, she begins quietly, 

"So...those people Sai was talking about before-"

"I _don't_  want to talk about it," Sasuke cuts her off, repeating himself. "Don't make me tell you again."

Haruna scowls at him. "What is your problem?! You can't even tell _me?_  I thought we were friends...-" Her lower lip curls into a pout as she feels slightly hurt. 

"We're _not friends,_ " Sasuke states plainly, stopping in front of a door. "Comrades, sure. But not friends. We're simply working towards the same goal." 

Sasuke's words sting like a whip, but she says nothing, keeping her face blank, though she feels like crying. For three years they had been training and fighting together; and over that time there seemed to have been several moments where Sasuke appeared to have let his guard down around her...Haruna had hoped it meant he was beginning to trust her, but now it all seems like a lie. Her shoulders droop a bit, her arms slowly falling to her sides as her fists clench. But never does she remove her gaze from Sasuke's face. 

"Don't give me that look," the boy sighs in disdain, placing one hand on his hip. "You should know better than to assume you can trust me. _You can't trust anyone._ If you want to stay alive, you must remember that." With that, he removes his hand and places it on the doorknob, opening the door and stepping into the room behind it.

Haruna's eyes follow him, but she doesn't move an inch. She fights her feelings with all her might, successfully subduing her tears. She lifts her chin and straightens, accepting his words. She will _not_  react this time. 

"Get in here," Sasuke says to her sharply after a moment. Haruna jumps and obeys him, entering the room behind him. "Shut the door, would you?" asks Sasuke as he lights a candle on the table, bringing a warm light into the room. Haruna shuts the door after shooting him an inquisitive glance, and then leans against the door with her arms crossed once again; her natural position. 

"Well?" she asks him impatiently.

"Well, what?" Sasuke retorts as he sits down on the bed that had been pushed against the wall.

Haruna spreads her arms wide and tilts her head, giving him a confused expression. "Why the hell did you drag me in here?" 

Sasuke blinks at her for a moment before replying. "I'm tired," he says. "I want to take a nap. And that Sai guy..." his eyes narrow at the mention of the Leaf shinobi from before, "...I don't trust him. I need you to stay hidden in the corner there and make sure he doesn't come in while I am resting." He gestures over to the furthest corner before laying himself down on the bed and turning over, facing the wall. 

For a few moments, Haruna just stares at the raven-haired asshole, baffled at her choice of comrade and momentarily confused as to why she even decided to stay with him in the first place, let alone listen to him. Her brow furrows as she glares menacingly at his back. "What the hell," she mutters with a shake of her head. "You don't trust Sai--fine. But what happened to _'You can't trust anyone, Haruna.'_? Didn't you literally _just_  tell me that?!" 

Sasuke, completely unmoving, replies to her calmly. "What's your point?"

"So you're saying you're _trusting me_  to watch your back for you while you sleep?! And yet, you can't trust me enough to tell me who those people are?!" By now, her voice was raised, her veins boiling with rage. Somewhere deep inside, she feels ashamed and disappointed at having exploded once again. _You're such a failure._

For a while, Haruna is met with dead silence. This only makes her anger worsen, and she clenches her fists in an attempt to stop herself from punching a hole in the wall beside her. Or in the back of Sasuke's head. _He's so infuriating!_  she ragesmentally. _Why does he always contradict himself?!_

Slowly, Sasuke lifts his arm and extends his finger, pointing at the corner he'd just described. "Corner. Now," is all he says, his voice a bit soft, but just as terse as ever.

"Agghh!" Haruna screams, but stomps over to her corner and plops down against the wall. "I hate you," she spits at him, hugging her knees to her chest. "You're such a jerk." _I can't believe myself..._  she says in her mind. _I gave into him again..._

If Sasuke's face hadn't been hidden from her, she might have been able to see the tiny smile playing on his lips as he drifted off, confident in his safety. 


	11. つながり ("Bonds")

The cold, hard cement floor underneath Haruna's backside as she sits in the corner of Sasuke's room to defend him is definitely not a welcoming seat. Her butt is numb and sore and her legs are cramped from being crossed for so long, but she grits her teeth and endures it, anyways. Whether or not Sasuke had contradicted himself, it seems that he had given her a chance to prove herself, and the last thing she is going to do is jeopardize it. However, knowing that Sasuke liked to sleep in total darkness, she decides she can stand and blow out the candle that is still burning on the table. She gingerly rises from her spot, silently groaning as her legs finally get the stretch they needed. Slowly, she regains feeling in her backside as she waddles over to the table across the room. She takes a breath, but pauses just before snuffing out the flame, peeking over at the sleeping Sasuke. A small smile creeps onto her lips and she takes a few steps over to the back wall, peering around his shoulder to stare at his peaceful face. Her heart squishes when she is met with the sight, happy to see him relaxed for once. All at once she realizes, _He's so cute when he's asleep._

After another moment of staring, she shakes off the sappy feelings with a huff and grits her teeth. _What the hell am I doing?_ She asks herself bitterly, turning and stalking back to the table and blowing out the candle, instantly darkening the room. The only source of light was the dim glow from under the door. Sighing, Haruna returns to her corner, leaning against the wall this time. She stands there for quite a while and is soon unable to stop herself from shutting her eyes...

_..._

_Creeaakkk._

Haruna's eyes snap open as the door is slowly pushed ajar. Light comes flooding into the room and shines on a small part of Sasuke's back, pushing through the small space alotted by the gap between the door frame and the door. Haruna freezes in her place and holds her breath, not making a single sound as she watches the door intently. Slowly, a dark-haired figure peers into the room, his form blocking out most of the light and casting a telltale shadow onto the floor. Haruna silently activates her _Byakugan_ and stares at the intruder, surprised to find it to be Sai.

 _Sasuke was right not to trust him...,_ she thinks as she soundlessly leans down and taps Sasuke on the foot. She returns to her place and keeps her eyes trained on the Leaf ninja.

Sai, who had stared intently into the room at the sleeping boy for a long time, finally reaches behind him and takes out a scroll. In his other hand are a paintbrush and ink. He rolls out the scroll and begins to paint on it. Haruna frowns as she watches, using her _Byakguan_ to focus on the scroll and notices that he is drawing what appear to be snakes and mice. Confused, she looks on as the boy finishes his work and sits back, making the handsign for Tiger. With that, the animals he had drawn on the pages were given life and grew, coming off of the paper and slithering and skittering their way into the room. Haruna, seeing the snakes, leans down and smacks Sasuke's foot in a panic, wondering why he hasn't reacted yet, and presses herself closer against the wall, watching Sai very intently. The snakes quietly hiss as they slide their way over to Sasuke. Haruna shudders at their noises, placing her hand on her kunai holster defensively. _Damnit...I hate snakes..._

Sai watches closely through the gap, his face as blank as ever. The girl in the corner grits her teeth and glances at her older comrade on the bed, wondering if he is even awake. She debates whether or not to attack Sai herself, though the snakes on the floor are definitely persuading her against it. No matter how she tries, she can't seem to make her body move. _Come on, you weakling,_ she berates herself. _They're just snakes! You're supposed to be protecting Sasuke, not hiding in the corner like a loser!_

By now, the inky reptiles have slid up the bedsheets, crawling onto Sasuke's body and hovering over him. Haruna trembles and tries not to scream, tears coming to her eyes as she looks on. _N-no... D-don't hurt him!_ She screams in her mind, but is still unable to move. Her chest tightens as her erratic heartbeat deafens her, the room beginning to spin.

But suddenly, Sasuke pipes up from his place on the bed, "Who's there?"

Haruna lets out a breath she had no idea she'd been holding, her anxiety fading as she realizes that he's awake and just fine. She grabs onto the wall for support as the room slows to a stop, her face covered in sweat.

From in the doorway, Sai narrows his eyes. "So, you _do_ know I'm here," he mutters, though both shinobi in the room can hear him clearly. "Regardless, I still have the advantage."

"What do you want?" Sasuke questions him tersely, still not moving an inch as the snakes let out a loud hiss.

_Creeaakk..._

Sai pushes the door open a bit more, raising his voice just a little as he replies, "Well, if you mean _Lord Danzo,_ his objective is to bury you."

At this, Haruna, who is finally able to move again, slips her hand into the pack on her thigh and closes her fingers around a kunai, ready to attack.

Sai hears a slight noise and shifts his gaze over in her direction. Seeming to see nothing, he looks back at Sasuke and continues, "But me--I have come here...to take you back to the Leaf Village."

Haruna's eyes widen as she pulls out a knife, not worried about being soundless anymore. She steps closer to the bed, apprehensive about the snakes nearby, and readies the kunai. "Oh, no you don't," she grits, glaring at the Leaf ninja crouched in the doorway.

"Haruna," Sasuke whispers quietly, and then says nothing more.

Sai glances at her, his fist pressed against the door and clenched tightly, but that is the extent of his reaction to her. He presses on instead, once again returning his gaze to Sasuke. "When I first started out, I did so with the sole intention of ending your life...but..." He clenches his jaw as his gaze falters, and Haruna wonders if he's trying to hold back tears. "You share something with him--a bond of friendship that Naruto is desperately holding onto." Haruna furrows her brow at this and suddenly realizes who Naruto must be to him. "And _I'm here to protect it,_ " Sai finishes his point firmly, a determined expression on his face.

Haruna is shocked at this unexpected speech from the Leaf defect, and begins to wonder if he really _had_ defected from his village at all. Is he just here to return Sasuke to the Leaf? And even so, wouldn't Sasuke just be thrown in jail for his crimes and never released again? None of it made sense to her. Were there really people who cared for Sasuke this much? He had always told her that he had abandoned his friends and would never see them again. She glances at her older comrade who had still not budged, and a frown crosses over her face. _He's so lucky to have people in his life like that,_ she laments to herself, her heart aching as she is suddenly reminded of her teammates from the Valley Village.

 _No! I must not think about them now._ Her eyes had already prickled at the mere thought of them. Luckily, Sasuke's contemptuous voice slices through the silence and snaps her back into reality.

"...A _bond?_ " he asks almost mockingly, and the snakes above him hiss in reply, causing Haruna to instinctively jump. She takes a step away from the bed and decides to close the space between her and Sai. "Is that _really_ your excuse for waking me up?"

Haruna presses herself into the shadows, disappearing out of Sai's line of sight and silently moving closer to him. She smirks at Sasuke's grumpiness, shaking her head at the raven-haired asshole. _Typical Sasuke._

Suddenly, Sai gasps and lets out a grunt, flinching and almost falling over. _Another genjutsu?_ Haruna wonders, but doesn't have time to do much else as Sai once again forms the sign for Tiger, causing the snakes to reel back and attack Sasuke, wrapping themselves tightly around his frame. At that same moment, her anger once again reaches its boiling point, her veins burning with rage as her hands clench. Unable to control her own body when she sees Sasuke attacked and demobilized, her fist draws back and lands right in the middle of a terrified Sai's face. Much to her surprise, at the same time, a large explosion bursts from the room, causing the ceiling above to cave in and the walls to collapse. She jumps up as quickly and high as she can through a hole above her, ending up outside and looking on as the ground crumbles and two boyish figures also leap to safety from the disaster. Haruna searches for Sasuke as she falls to the ground, landing gracefully on her feet, but is unable to see through the smoke billowing from the massive hole in the ground. Frantically, she activates her _Byakugan,_ which had been shut off during the explosion, and searches for her comrade.

"Sasuke!" she screams, gazing through the smoke until she sees his figure and recognizes his chakra signature. She dashes over to him, and as she appears through the smoke, she sees Sasuke staring at her with a look of worry on his face.

_Wait a minute._

"Haruna," he says to her, visibly relieved as his shoulders drop and he extends his hand to her. His face, however, remains collected and neutral.

Confusedly, Haruna accepts the hand offered to her, staring at the other warily. "Sasuke?" she asks him. "What is g-"

Sasuke yanks her close to him by her arm, and for a half a moment, Haruna expects Sasuke to hug her. _Was...he actually worried about me...?_ She opens her arms to accept the hug.

But instead, Sasuke pulls her behind his body, letting go of her wrist immediately afterwards. Haruna's heart skips as she realizes how gravely mistaken she was.

"Stay there," he commands her, not even glancing at her. Then, he steps over to the edge of the crater, barely four feet away from her.

 _Oh._ She hangs her head in shame and folds her arms over her chest, sulking behind him.

After a short while, she vaguely hears the sound of a woman's shrill yelling and frowns, lifting her head to try and get a look. Unable to see into the crater from where she is, she activates her _Byakugan_ to watch. Sure enough, a young woman has Sai by the collar and is screaming at his face, something about telling her what he's really up to.

Suddenly, Sasuke speaks up, his voice monotone--but Haruna picks up on the slight edge and glances at him worriedly.

"Sakura."

She remembers the name, and shifts her gaze back to the woman, a bit taken aback as she notices just how much chakra she is carrying.

_Yikes._

She seems to stop dead in her tracks when she hears Sasuke's voice, slowly turning her head to look up at him, who was standing above her against the dazzling sunlight.

"It's you...Sasuke...," she says weakly, her voice trembling.

A moment later, another figure comes rushing to the scene; this time, a boy. The very first thing Haruna notices is the enormous amount of chakra he wields; at least several hundred times more than Sakura. Haruna gasps at the sight, staring in awe at the enormous orange flame burning at his core. _Unbelievable...So much of it...What on earth...?_

He, too, stops and stares up at the raven-haired asshole, and Haruna belatedly realizes that this must be Naruto. Still amazed at his immense chakra, sbe stares at him for a while.

Naruto seems to stare at him for a very long time, and Sasuke stands motionless atop the cliff, not saying a word. His hand planted on his hip, the breeze lifts his dark hair and plays at the fabric of his robe. Haruna deduces that he might look like a mystical god to those below, with the sun directly behind him.

"Sasuke...," Naruto echoes Sakura, his voice just as breathless and full of pain.

_So it's true...He really does have people who love him..._

After a long time of silence, Sasuke finally speaks; his voice bland and uncaring. "Well...Naruto...," he pauses, and after an apprehensive glance, Haruna can tell even from behind that he's struggling. "...You came, too."

Haruna senses another figure approaching and looks down at the scene below once again. This time, it's a slightly older male with a decent amount of chakra. He walks slowly and casually, unlike the other two who had bolted over with a great sense of urgency.

"I assume... _Kakashi's_ here, as well?" Sasuke asks, sounding bemused.

_Kakashi?_

"Unfortunately, Kakashi couldn't make it," the older male calls to Sasuke as he takes his place beside Naruto. "So I'm here in his place. Team Kakashi has come to escort you back to the Leaf Village."

 _Kakashi must be his sensei,_ Haruna realizes after the replacement leader man finishes speaking. Then she frowns as the same words Sai had said to him earlier are repeated, and she feels a pain in her chest. _No... They can't just take him back. He has nothing left there..._

Haruna looks at Sasuke with a worried gaze, watching his reaction. He merely stares down at them and says, "Team Kakashi..."

Her eyes lower again as she notices Sai slowly reach for his sword, unsheathing it and baring it at Sasuke. She immediately reaches for a kunai and draws it, inching closer to her comrade, who says nothing.

Instead, Sakura screams out in her shrill voice, "I knew it! Sai, don't!"

Beside her, the other two men tense up and stare at the pale boy.

"...So _that guy_ is my replacement...?" Sasuke scoffs, not even reacting to the sword. "I thought the team already had a weakling," he continues, his tone icy. Still, Sai holds his sword and doesn't move. "...He was saying something about protecting the bond between Naruto and me..."

At this, Sakura gives Sai a bewildered stare and says, "Sai...I thought your mission was to assassina-"

"It's true," Sai interrupts, still unmoving. "I was given a classified mission to find and eliminate Sasuke. But I'm through following orders. From now on, I think for myself. Naruto," he says to the other boy, "I think you can help me..."

Sai's voice lowers, and Haruna is unable to hear the rest of his ramblings. Frustrated, she quietly approaches Sasuke from behind and whispers, "Why do I have to stay back here? Who are these people?" While she says this, she peers over his shoulder to try and get a look at them. Beside Sai stands Sakura, a girl with short pink hair. The massive chakra boy beside her has blonde spiky hair--and if she looks closely, she thinks she sees whiskers on his cheeks, though she thinks she's only imagining it. Then she glances at the leader replacement, who seems plain, with short brown hair and a metal face guard attached to his Leaf headband.

" _Because I said so,_ " Sasuke replies through gritted teeth, reaching back and shoving her behind him once again.

Haruna stumbles backwards, nearly losing her balance, and huffs in exasperation, crossing her arms in a stubborn manner. "Asshole," she mutters, glowering at him.

"...they don't want to lose their connection with you," Sai is saying to Sasuke now. "They would give anything to protect those bonds. I still might not understand it that clearly, but you, Sasuke-- _you_ must understand it!"

Sasuke stiffens slightly at this, his head lifting a bit as he squares his shoulders. Haruna shifts her weight from one leg to the other, starting to feel a bit strange at how this boy was talking about her comrade and the others below. _But he abandoned them...,_ she reasoned. _Why would they still want to be his friends?_

"...You're right," says Sasuke after a pause, "I _did_ understand." Haruna stares at him silently, watching his shoulders quiver just a little as he says loudly, " _And that's why I severed them!"_

Haruna begins to doubt him at this, seeming him visibly struggle as he attempted to maintain his uncaring façade. Knowing him as well as she did, she can tell that something just isn't right. _He's...shaking,_ she notices, though after a moment it stops, and she wonders if maybe she had just been imagining it. Directly disobeying her comrade's wishes, she takes a few steps closer to him, wanting to comfort him, but unsure of how. _Does...he even need it?_ She wonders suddenly. _Maybe he wasn't shaking. Maybe it was just the wind..._ Besides, she realizes as she moves back to her place, even if he did need comfort, there is no way in hell that he would accept it, especially from her.

"You see...," Sasuke speaks again after a long, silent pause, "...I have a different bond now."

Haruna's heart skips a beat at this. She stares at his back, suddenly filled with hope. _Could...this be it? Has he finally accepted me?_ She waits with bated breath for him to say, 'I've made a new friend, and I don't need you losers anymore.'

But instead, Sasuke finishes: "...between my brother and me--it's the bond of _hatred!_ "

Haruna winces as she feels the familiar sting of rejection and looks down, kicking herself for being so naïve. _I should have seen that coming...,_ Haruna admits to herself sadly, sighing as she folds her arms and shakes her head.

"Having too many ties in the world will lead you astray." Sasuke's cold words reach Haruna's ears, and she feels another pang in her chest. "It weakens your ambition; distracts you from what really matters."

 _Then...why am I even here...?_ Haruna wonders, taking a step back as she feels more tears coming. _Stop it!_ She screams at them, holding them in.

"If that's how you really felt, then why didn't you kill me that day?!" Naruto bellows at him. "Weren't you going to _break our bond,_ Sasuke?!"

Haruna can't hold them any longer. Tears spill down her cheeks as she realizes everything all at once--Sasuke doesn't want her friendship. Every moment she'd ever had with him, where she had been so sure that she had been slowly winning him over--all of it had been in her head. Sasuke had said himself that bonds tie people down. So what business does Haruna have trying to befriend him again? The past is the past, and Haruna decides it's time to grow up and accept loneliness. After spending the last three years trying and failing to emulate Sasuke, she finally takes one step closer to it, and disappears in a puff of smoke behind him to let him finish the conversation with his old friends by himself.

\---  
Alone in her room, she sits silently on her bed and hugs her knees to her chest, staring at the wall in front of her. The tears had dried up on her cheeks and her hair is a bit messy, but she doesn't care one bit. The crying had taken a lot out of her, and she is honestly sick of the whole ordeal. She suddenly wishes she were able to effectively erase her feelings like Sasuke. _Sasuke._

Her eyes narrow and she slips a kunai from its holster, tossing it at the door as she senses someone on the other side of it.

"Get lost," she snarls, not in the mood for company.

_Silence._

Confused, Haruna waits for a response, but still receives none. _Perhaps they got the message...?_ She wonders, activating her _Byakugan_ and scanning through the wall. Standing just outside her door is a figure, and after checking the chakra signature, she recognizes Sasuke.

Gritting her teeth, she yells at him in a menacing tone, "Go away, Sasuke Uchiha! You are the _last_ person I want to see right now!" For good measure, she takes out another kunai and flings it at the door. It lands in the wood with a satisfying _thunk._

Still, Sasuke doesn't budge--in fact, he barely even flinches when the knife lands in the door. She gives him a few seconds before leaping from her bed and racing to the other end of the room. She slams the door open with her left hand and jabs at Sasuke's face with her right. But the punch is easily caught in Sasuke's palm, and the boy in question stares down at her blankly.

"Urgh!" Haruna growls in rage, yanking her hand away. "What do you want?!" she screams at him, completely fed up and tired.

For a moment, the boy says nothing. But as time passes, his eyes begin to shimmer just a little, as if they were filling with tears. His hands, hanging at his sides, curl into fists as his shoulders begin to tremble. He furrows his brow as he attempts to keep his cool, though he is obviously failing miserably.

Haruna takes all this in and is bewildered, wondering what could have happened after she left to make him act like this. Her anger doesn't leave, however, and she doesn't want anyone in her room at this time. So she opens her mouth to send him away--but before she can, he pushes past her into the room and shoves the door on his way, causing it to slam shut. Haruna flinches and glares at him, ready to give him a piece of her mind.

Sasuke, meanwhile, flops onto the girl's bed and rolls over, staring at the wall. This is the last straw for Haruna, who gives the back of Sasuke's head a good, hard smack before pointing at the door to tell him to get the hell out. Sasuke flinches and rubs his head, but doesn't move from where he lay.

"Sasuke--just what the _hell_ do you think you are doing in my bed?!" Haruna demands at the top of her voice. "Get out and go back to your own room! I didn't even invite you in, for pete's sake! But you just waltzed in here and expe-"

"Damnit, Haruna, shut up," Sasuke tries to shout, but his voice is too weak to be any bit as menacing as Haruna's is. "You're so damn loud..."

Haruna stops dead where she stands at the sound of the boy's soft voice. There is _definitely_ something wrong. Worriedly, she grabs Sasuke by the arm and pulls at him until his body turns towards her and she can look at him directly.

His face is soaked with tears, his dark orbs wide and full of pain. Haruna jumps back and lets go of him as if he were infected with some sort of deadly disease, and stares at him apprehensively.

Sasuke glowers at her and turns away again, telling her grumpily, "Don't pull me like that. I'm trying to rest, here."

Haruna's round eyes were huge with shock and confusion as she was once again caught off guard by Sasuke's strange behavior. She wraps her arms around herself as she tries to make sense of it all, growing more and more clueless. After a while, she decides to ask Sasuke, who is the only one who could give her any answers at this point.

"What's wr..." is all she manages to get out before Sasuke cuts in.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just...tired."

Haruna frowns. What a lame excuse. "Then why don't you go sleep in your own bed? What the hell do I have to do with you being tired? What, do you want me to watch your back again?"

"...Yeah," Sasuke quietly concedes. "Sure. Watch my back for me while I sleep."

Haruna can tell he's just making it up. Her fists clench even tighter as she grows sick of being confused by this raven-haired asshole. He never has a clear answer for her, nor does he ever act the same way all the time. Having already had a breakdown just recently, she decides she just can't put up with him anymore. Instead, she leans over and attempts to lift him up, grunting a bit as she struggles under his weight.

"Come...on...you huge...jerk!" Haruna pants as she uses all her strength to lift the older boy. Sasuke doesn't fight back or object, and eventually Haruna's training pays off as she is able to successfully throw Sasuke over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Sasuke hangs there quietly, accepting his fate.

"You're unbelievable," she tells him, huffing from the exertion. With a shake of her head, she turns around and marches to the door. She opens it carefully so as not to bump the kunai still sticking out of it, and carries him out into the hall. "Thinking you can come into _my room_ and use _my bed_ to sleep in? Ridiculous." She continues to grumble at him the whole way, but not a word escapes him. "Man, you are heavy," she whines as she finally reaches his room, opening the door. Walking up to his bed, she drops the boy onto it, looking down at him as he quietly settles into it, once again turning to face the wall.

Haruna shakes her head and pulls the blanket over him, tucking it in around his frame as he slowly shuts his eyes and relaxes under the covers. "Unbelievable," she mutters afterwards, turning to go.

Just as she's about to shut the door, she hears Sasuke's soft call to her.

"Haruna."

The girl stops and leaves the door open a crack to wait for him to continue. When nothing is said, she shoots back, "What?"

Silence follows. Haruna waits for a long while, but nothing else is said. Assuming he's fallen asleep, she rolls her eyes and pulls the door shut. As she walks down the hall back to her room, she misses Sasuke's quiet _'I'm sorry'_ as he drifts off to sleep.


	12. 警告の雨 (Foreboding Rain)

Not a week later, just after midnight, the full moon hangs high above in the night sky. Its bright, glowing light seeps its way into a large stone cave in which two conniving figures stand, plotting something truly evil. It casts foreboding shadows along the walls and floor--but the shadows of those conspiring within the depths are far more threatening. One dons a suspicious orange mask with a swirling pattern etched upon it, while the other, black as night, hides within the shadows as they converse. All that can be seen of the latter are his two glowing eyes and his nasty smile.

The orange-masked one, his arms flat at his sides as he gazes at the darkness before him, lets out a small breath. "Well, it looks as though everything is going according to plan," he says to the other. His voice is deep and meticulous; every single consonant of his words is enunciated carefully, not a single one missed. "However...I believe something is still missing."

"Oh? And what could that be?" questions the one in the dark with an equally deep, though significantly more abrasive and gritty, voice. His tone is undeniably amused, for he knows something the other does not.

The masked man cradles his elbows close and tilts his head as he considers the question. "Once I've created the tree...how do I activate it?"

The black figure smirks to himself, taking a moment before he answers. "You'll need someone with a certain  _eye_ to activate it.... Isn't that right?"

"Yes, of course, but  _wher_ e am I to find such a person?" grumbles the masked one, clearly agitated. "I thought perhaps I would have the ability to perform such a task myself...but now, it seems my research has led me to a different conclusion..."

The black one considers what he knows, turning the information over in his mind.  _Should I tell him...?_ he wonders.  _Should I not...?_  As much as he enjoys reveling in the superiority he holds over the other due to his vast knowledge, he knows he needs to take the next step in order to bring his plan to fruition.

"Tsk," the orange masked one tuts with a shake of his head. "It seems my plans must be postponed  _once again_..." his voice lowers to a growl.

_Yes...I think now is the time._

"I know of the one you seek...," the black figure murmurs slowly.

The masked man gazes at the other once again, intrigued. "Oh?"

"Yes...I've been watching her since I became aware of her existence..."

"Have you?" the man in the orange mask questions, pausing for a moment to consider this before pressing for more details. "Well, go on. Where is she now?"

"With Orochimaru, the Saanin...," replies the black one. "She's trained with him for nearly five years now...."

"So she must be quite powerful, indeed," the other deduces with a nod. "And you're sure she has the power I need?"

"Absolutely.... Though I've only seen it twice.... It's truly a  _terrifying_  sight when it awakens...."

"Hmph," the masked man grunts, satisfied. "Very well. I shall send Pein after her. Seems my plans might be realized sooner than I thought..." With that, he disappears without a sound.

From within the shadows, the dark figure grins maliciously. "Yes," he chuckles after the masked one had left his presence. "As shall mine...."

\------

Deep in the green forests of the Land of Tea, Haruna and Sasuke travel on a path headed south. After waiting alone for a few days in the previous hideout after Orochimaru and Kabuto set out, they are finally on their way to the next refuge, located on a tiny island off the coast. Haruna had been there once before and knows the way; Sasuke had not. Still, the older boy remains a few steps ahead as he can sense Orochimaru's chakra even from a great distance. This frustrates Haruna to no end, because she is still unable to sense others' chakra. But, no matter. There are more important things on her mind.

The events of the week before are still tossing around within. The night Sasuke had waltzed into her room and cried.  _Cried._ Never in her fifteen years of life has she ever seen Sasuke cry. Still baffled by it, she has constantly been questioning all week whether or not she'd merely dreamed it. But finally, the night before, she had come to the conclusion that it had really happened, and decided that she would confront him about it the next day on their journey. 

Gathering up her courage, Haruna slowly parts her lips and prepares to speak. But just then, a flicker of motion catches her eye. She glances towards the trees, unable to see anything. 

"Did you see that?" she asks her older companion, activating her Byakugan and searching the surrounding trees. The trail they are on is wide, so an ambush wouldn't be a huge worry, but the forest beyond it is thick.

Sasuke, still a few steps ahead, pauses for a moment before continuing. "If there was anything out there, I would have sensed it. Come on."

She huffs indignantly, and after taking one last look, she jogs a little to catch up to him, still wary of her surroundings. Travelling between hideouts is always a drag, but naturally, they do as they are told. And besides, they are alone, which Haruna quite enjoys, as she despises her master greatly. Though Sasuke is silent most of the way, she can't help but admit that she enjoys his company. 

At least, when he isn't being annoying.

Regardless, Haruna knows she needs to ask him about the other night. So, once again mustering up her bravery, she speaks.

"So...Sasuke," she starts, already feeling a hostile air from the boy beside her, "about the other night...."

His eyes stay locked straight ahead as he responds icily, "What other night?"

 _Oh, boy. He's already mad._ Haruna gulps, but continues. "Y-you know...when those leaf ninja showed up...and then later you commandeered my bed...and you were cr--"

"I was _not_ crying." She nearly flinches at his nasty tone. His pace increases and she lets him get a few steps ahead of her, but she doesn't intend to change the subject.

"Well, I saw water on your face," she presses on, "so unless you were practicing some weird water style jutsu or something, then-"

" _I said I wasn't crying_!" He whirls around and shouts at her, sharingan blazing, seeming to fill her whole field of vision. She tries to backpedal but her feet don't seem to respond. "I won't tell you again--I don't want to talk about it! There's nothing you could do or say that would get me to tell you anything about my past, so give it up!" He turns and storms away.

She takes a deep breath and steadies herself, fighting the oncoming tears she knows are attempting to escape.  _Damnit, why do I keep crying because of him?!_ A scowl crosses over her face as she decides to stand up to him this time. "Why are you running away from your feelings?" she shouts, rushing to catch him. "Obviously you feel something for that boy, or you wouldn't be so sensitive about it. I'm not even asking about your past, I just want to know who he is! Why is it that big a deal? And why were you cr-"

Sasuke reels on her, his deadly crimson eyes unchanging. His body trembles before her and Haruna immediately knows she's made a terrible mistake. Hatred and rage in its purest form seem to radiate off of him as he bellows at the girl, " _I said, I wasn't crying!!"_

Around them, his powerful, anger-filled voice echoes off the many trees; the reverberations causing the ground below to quiver as if in fear. Haruna, too, shivers and stumbles back, once again unable to fight against her own tears. 

" _Just look at you,_ " Sasuke continues to shout, though his voice isn't quite as terrifying, " _you're the one who's crying! You're so weak, I can't even stand to look at you!_ "

Haruna gasps as his words slice through her like the edge of a sword. Silently, she stares at him, regretting everything she'd ever said to him.  _Sasuke...why..._

Sasuke clenches his fists at his sides, tearing his gaze away from her. He stares off into the trees beside him, attempting to calm himself down. After a few silent moments, his mind clears, and he slowly begins to realize that he may have said something awful. Slowly, he brings his eyes back to the younger, sobbing girl in front of him, and a frown crosses over his face. 

Haruna, her heart broken seemingly for the last time, shakes her head back and forth as she takes several steps backwards, her knees weakening. But she never stumbles; instead she takes one last hard look at the raven-haired asshole, who is staring at her with a slightly calmer expression. 

_That's it._

Without a word, Haruna turns on her heel and sprints away from the boy, into the trees and immediately out of sight. She runs and runs, letting her feet take her wherever they pleased; she's done with him. With everyone.

"H...haruna," Sasuke says quietly, trying to make his feet move in order to chase after her,  but they don't listen. They freeze in place, trapping him where he stands. So there he remains--in silence and in guilt, knowing that he, too, has made a terrible mistake. 

-

High above them in the treetops stands a black-clad woman with lilac hair and knowing, golden eyes. Her face contorted in a frown, she watches from on high as the children argue, yelling at each other--and with a shake of her head, she releases a piece of paper from her hand. Using her chakra to mold it carefully, she sends it away in the form of a butterfly. Gazing back down, she notices that the girl has taken off. 

"Tsk," she tuts, a smirk creeping onto her lips. "That boy sure messed up. He should know better than to talk to a lady in such a manner." With a sigh, she turns away from the scene, and her body separates into thousands of white leaflets. She travels across the forest and lands below another tree, where she lies in wait for her prey. 

\------

_Run. Faster._

Haruna's broken sobs resound throughout the forest as the sky slowly darkens, clouds forming overhead, signalling an oncoming storm. Her feet are sore; her legs tired from rushing to take her as far away from Sasuke as possible.

_Don't let him catch you. Don't let him take you back._

Wiping her hand across her eyes, she lets out a scream of anger, though it's short and choked. Out of breath, she finally slows her pace to that of a walk, gasping for air. She wraps her arms around her frame for comfort, crying loudly as she lumbers through the greenery, twigs snapping under her heavy footsteps. Part of her knows it wasn't safe to walk through the forest alone at night--that part of her is immediately silenced.

_Let them come. I'm weak, anyways. It's not like I have a chance against them._

Sasuke's words echo in her ears and she shakes her head to clear them away. 

"You son of a bitch," she mutters under her breath. She wonders to herself why she'd ever trusted that guy in the first place. 

_You can't trust anyone._

Was Sasuke really telling the truth when he said that? She had thought he was only trying to push her away with those words. She didn't think there was truly any weight to them. But now she sees, clearer than ever, that Sasuke had never wanted her by his side in the first place. All those years of pretending to work together, of behaving like a team-- 

"Lies...," Haruna spits, kicking up a pile of soaked leaves out of spite. They hardly move. 

As she trudges on through the forest, she feels a tiny droplet of water fall onto her head. She pays it no mind as she continues, with no idea where she is going or where she will end up. She doesn't give a care.

However, that changes rapidly as that tiny droplet had suddenly turned into a heavy downpour of rain. With a frown, she hugs herself and searches for shelter. Shivering, she glances all around her until she finds a large tree with massive branches that serve as a great umbrella for the ground around it. She sloshes over to it and plops down on the damp grass, resting her back against the sturdy trunk. Though she has calmed down some, she hasn't fully stopped crying as her face is still quite soaked. Or is it just the rain? 

Either way, Haruna sits silently by the tree and stares out from the safety of its mighty branches at the downpour. She figures that it will probably be raining all night, and then realizes with a start that she has no food. She frowns again and straightens, knowing this will be problematic. She begins to sort through her options. She could try to find food in the forest--but she remembers that she has no knowledge of the forest whatsoever.  _Cross that off the list, then._  She could sneak into town and steal some food-- _I don't know transformation very well, and I don't want to get into trouble--or s_ he could buy the food _\--but I have no money_. This leaves her with only one option: to return to the island hideout, where she knows her master will be angry at her for not showing up when she was told. Even worse,  _Sasuke_  will be there, as well. 

Haruna glowers.  _No way am I going back if_ he's _there._

She thinks some more, hugging her knees to her chest as she does so. Perhaps she could visit a different hideout and steal some food from it. Haruna tilts her head, unable to foresee any hitches in that plan.  _I guess I could do that; though I would have to be quick._ She nods to herself, relaxing as she becomes confident. She knows she can at least last through the night; she'd eaten quite a large meal before they'd set out earlier that day, knowing that it would only take from sunrise to sunset to arrive. Closing her eyes, she leans her head back and decides to get some sleep. 

However, someone else has other plans. 

After hardly a moment of rest, Haruna thinks she hears a slight  _snap_  in the distance of a twig--like someone had stepped on it. She straightens up in her place, her  _Byakugan_  immediately activating as she stares in the general direction of the sound. 

_That had better not be Sasuke._

Seeing two figures just ahead, she leaps to her feet and readies a kunai. She watches them slowly approach her, though she can't actually  _see_ them through the trees just yet. She frowns, wondering why they're walking so slowly, but she doesn't let her guard down. Instead, she decides to call them out. 

"Hey--who's there?"

The figures do not slow their pace. Eventually, they materialize through the haze of the heavy rainfall-- a man and woman; one of bluish-purple hair and one of orange. The strong colors of their locks contrast their dark  robes, which seem to decorated with splotches of red. As they near her, she finally recognizes them as clouds. Her eyes narrow as the two continue to silently approach her. The man is tall and visibly powerful; his ears, nose, and bottom lip decorated by what appeared to be earrings--though upon closer inspection, those in his nose seemed more like metal rods shoved through his skin. The sight unnerved Haruna, who feels a twinge of fear, but holds her ground. She glances at the woman, who seems to have a more pleasant face, sullen as it is. With soft purple hair and eyes of amber, Haruna senses a sort of gentleness about her. She wonders if she ever shows it. The only accessories the woman bears are a single lip piercing, which Haruna appreciates, and a beautiful white flower tied up in her hair. 

-

The two stop in front of her, their expressions blank. The taller male gazes down on her condescendingly, already wondering what Tobi was planning to do with a blundering genin like this. In fact, the though of even recruiting a genin is absolutely absurd to him. How would this help the Akatsuki? If anything, it would only hurt it. He frowns at the girl who steps towards him, poised to attack. His ringed eyes watch her carefully, an unimpressed sigh leaving him.

From beside him, the woman speaks. "There's no need to fret, child," she says, her voice smooth and calming. It's music to the man's ears. "We are not here to harm you."

The  _Byakguan_ -wielding child before them frowns, brandishing her knife. "Then what are you here for?" she snaps. At least she isn't so easily trusting. 

"We seek to recruit you," the orange-headed one speaks up at last, his voice deep and resounding. 

The girl's eyes widen, shifting around as if trying to make sense of this.  _Believe me; that was my initial reaction, as well._  

"Wait..." she says slowly, her glare returning. "Aren't you the-- the  _Atsukaki?_ No-- that's not right...the...Aku...tsaki...?" Her face contorts in confusion as she clearly wracks her brain for the correct name.

The light-haired man exchanges glances with his female companion, who gives him an amused smirk and a shake of her head. He can tell she's thinking the exact same thing-- _What a complete idiot._

Finally, the man returns his gaze to the child, and he corrects her in a monotone voice. "We are the  _Akatsuki._ My name is Pein, and as the leader of the Akatsuki, I would like to extend an invitation for you to join our ranks."

The girl looks at them with wide, apprehensive eyes. She's silent for a moment, before she begins to shake her head and take a step or two backwards, away from them. "N-no," she mutters, "you guys are bad news...I-I can't go with you!"

The woman frowns at her. "And why not?"

"B-because!" the child stammers. "I-I already have a mission to fulfill. A-and joining you will...well, it'll keep me from completing it!" She doesn't sound convincing.

"...Oh?" asks Pein, his impatience growing thin by the second, though his tone hardly reflects it. "And what might this mission be?" 

She is silent for a few moments more, and the two Akatsuki begin to wonder if she'll even tell them. It would definitely be smarter not to. 

Nevertheless, she opens her mouth and blurts out, "Itachi Uchiha...I must kill him!" 

The two Akatsuki exchange glances. 

"And I have no time to waste, so I'd better be on my way!" the girl finishes as she clambers backwards, turning on her heel and dashing off into the forest, far away from the two. 

Silence hangs between them for a while, who simply stare in the direction she'd left in long after she had disappeared from their sight. 

Finally, the woman turns around and shakes her head. "Let's go," she says to the other. 

Pein, a frown weighing heavy on his face, also turns and follows the woman. "To recruit such a child," he says to her quietly. "Tobi must have been mistaken when he sent us to find her." He was quiet for a moment before continuing. "I would very much like to know who she is. If someone like her truly _is_  important to our plan...there must be something he's not telling us."

"Perhaps there is," replies Konan gently. "Regardless, we shall report back to him and ask him what our next move is."

Pein gives one last glance in the girl's direction before forming a sign with his hand and disappearing into thin air. The rain that had followed him slows to a stop, and Konan follows him a moment later.


	13. 断ることができないことを示唆 (An Offer I Can't Refuse)

After a long time spent running ceaselessly in the other direction, Haruna is unable to go on any longer. Her little Genin legs which had mindlessly carried her so far already are now shaky and weak. Eventually, they fail and she trips, flying a few feet before coming into harsh contact with the ground and skidding. Sticky mud and some small pebbles find their way into her mouth along the way. There she remains for several minutes, covered in sweat, grime, and rain water, feeling sorry for herself. It hurts. A disparaged groan leaves her then, and she finally pushes herself up onto her knees. She can feel the scrape on her cheek throb, but she fights her tears back. She's a big girl now, she decides. She doesn't have anyone looking out for her anymore--no Orochimaru, no Kabuto...and no Sasuke. She's all alone, and crying will not help her, in any situation. 

Weakly, she gets to her feet, and wipes her face with her hands. Rubbing her now-dirty hands on her pants, she then takes a breath and attempts to gather her bearings. Where am I? The first question; one sorely lacking an answer. Looking all around her slowly, she notes her surroundings. Towering, damp trees everywhere she turns, thick and endless. Nowhere did she see an opening. Beneath her, there was slimy, slippery mud, and crushed leaves which had fallen from the trees above. The sky is dark--for it is night time--and overcast, so the dim light of the moon has grown even drearier than normal. It won't be a problem for her, she decides, as she activates her Byakugan. She scours the area as far as her vision can stretch, searching for a clearing, a hole in the endless wall of trees--anything. It's nearly at the very fringes of her range, but directly behind her, in the direction of six o'clock is just the thing she is looking for. However--it is in the same direction the two Akatsuki members left in. 

If she were to walk straight ahead, she would be well on her way to meeting up with Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke. The former being the lesser of the two evils, she picks that one, turning herself directly around and setting off that way. She leaves her Byakugan activated all the while, allowing for its spectral vision to guide her. It is much too dark to continue without. Forward she walks, one step at a time. Finding a way out of the forest is step one. Step two is to then figure out where she is and to reach the nearest base. If she even makes that far. 

Casting that negative thought aside, she instead focuses on the next question, figuring she can solve it as she walks to pass the time. Who were those people in the robes, and why did they want me to join them? 

They were the Akatsuki, she reminds herself. Orochimaru would always speak poorly of the Akatsuki, warning both Sasuke and herself not affiliate in any way with them. So...why did they propose she join them? How are they even aware of her existence? It's all so confusing to Haruna, who has pretty much accepted that she is useless as a ninja. From what she knows, the Akatsuki are a band of S-rank criminals shunned from their homelands, who joined up to commit various crimes for profit, and planned to take over the world one day. At least, that's how Orochimaru had worded it. So, where does Haruna fit into all of this? 

S-rank criminal? No. Hardly a Genin. Shunned from her homeland? Yes, absolutely. Committing crimes? Haruna thinks this one over. She remembers the time she and Sasuke had to help Orochimaru and Kabuto kidnap many adults and children for their ridiculous experiments. Although, the latter two had rather detested the term "kidnapping", and much preferred to call it "extending an invitation". Haruna had begged to differ. Regardless, could kidnapping be considered a crime? Indeed. 

Planning on world domination? Haruna's small fist curls up tight as she trudges through the slick mud and foliage. No, but I hold a grudge against someone in particular....

Haruna pictures the young Itachi she had known and is nearly overcome with contempt. And is that a twinge of jealousy? She stares it boldly in the face. Yes it is. How dare he nullify her one goal--her very purpose in life, her own revenge, and her only hope for peace, all in one fel swoop. It simply drives her mad with acerbity. Sure, she had buried it while she was with Sasuke; she had once cared for him, and didn't want to infringe on his own revenge as Itachi had hers. But now that she is no longer by his side, and therefore no longer cares about his feelings (or at least, that's what she tells herself), she can finally take her own revenge, and finally be at peace. Her mother can be at peace.

My mother....

Yes...she hadn't thought about her for quite some time. Nearly a decade it has been, and yet the bitter ache she feels--and has always felt--has barely faded. She slows to a stop, dead in the middle of the forest, still miles away from her destination. Her heart crumbles apart, tears slipping down her cheeks endlessly. Her Byakugan fades, and she is left with nothing but a dark, faintly chirping forest, and the raspy sound of her broken breaths. 

"M-mother," she whimpers, sliding to her knees, which land with a plop in a puddle of mud. She hardly notices through the sweltering agony of the cavernous hole which had been ripped open within her from the loss of her mother. The raw, staggering pain courses freshly through her now, tearing her apart all over again, as if she is six years old, watching her mother run away from her in a deep forest not unlike the one she finds herself in presently. But Haruna is in the past.

She sobs loudly and cries out in despair, in woe. She misses her mother; she wants her mother. She repeats this like a mantra and holds herself with all her might, as if trying to prevent herself from physically breaking apart. She tries to conjure up an image of her mother, but for the life of her, cannot recall what her face looked like. 

"No," she mutters, her entire body convulsing with each violent sob that racks her chest. She frantically tries to remember her voice...her scent...something. But there is simply nothing--nothing to calm her or coax her out of her hysteria. Her heart beats furiously within its cage as a weight slowly presses onto her chest, compressing her throat so much that it becomes very difficult to breathe. Shivering, she collapses to the ground completely, as panic and despair cling to her without relent. She cries out with fervor, but not a soul a hears her. She is so very alone. 

\----

It isn't until Haruna snaps awake that she realizes she'd even fallen asleep in the first place. One by one, her senses return, and the very first thing she notices is that it is daylight. How long had she been asleep? She doesn't have an answer. 

As she slowly sits up, she rather suddenly becomes aware that she is absolutely covered in mud. Not only that, but the sun is high and warm, and so the wetness of the mud must have dried, because as she tries to move her limbs, she feels the skin surrounding them is sticky and cakey. The sensation simply grosses her out.

"Ugh...disgusting," she mutters to herself as she clambers to her feet, eyeing her filthy arms and legs in dismay and horror as they move and crunch like rusted metal. She needs to find a body of water to bathe in, and fast. She uses her Byakguan to search, and finds one, only two miles in the direction of her nine o'clock from where she'd been standing the night before as she searched for the clearing. It is the ocean. Forgetting about said clearing, she instead heads off in the direction of the water. 

As she treks along, she reflects on the events prior in hopes of discerning how she ended up so dirty. What had happened? A breakdown after she'd been reminded of her mother.

A great sadness touches her but for a moment, and she rebukes it immediately. She'll hardly admit to having that breakdown. No one was there to see it; no one can make her concede. Moving on. 

What had reminded of her mother? Her vendetta against Itachi for stealing her revenge from her. And what of that?

"Oh, what was it...," Haruna ponders aloud, pushing a drooping tree branch aside as she continues making her way through the multitudinous greenery. "Right," she gasps a short time later. The Akatsuki. 

What had they wanted with her, anyways? She fits maybe two of the criteria. She is only a genin, and merely fifteen years of age. So what on earth would possess such a well-thought out, evil organization to try and recruit her, of all people? It truly baffles her. She is stumped for any answers as she presses on, the midsummer heat bearing down on her all the while. She has begun to sweat now, the slimy liquid breaking down the crusty dirt which had grown her over skin. For once, she welcomes it gratefully, though it works much slower than she would prefer.

Just then, she is stirred from her thoughts by the sound of high-pitched, almost childish laughter ringing from above her in the treetops. She freezes in her place, her hand instinctively flying to the kunai holster on her hip. Slowly, she gazes up at the tree above, squinting as the light gets brighter. Up on a higher branch sits a strange, orange mask-clad figure. He is wearing the same black robe covered in red clouds that she had seen the day before. She tenses as the connection is made in her head, and she realizes who he is. Her eyes narrow and she goes through with grabbing a knife from the pouch. She brandishes it at him, shouting:

"You! Atsatsuki! Come down here!"

Almost gleefully, the masked man prances down from his perch as he had been told. He hums and sings a little song all the while, and Haruna stares at his absurd behavior in confusion. 

"Hee-hee, ho-hum," the orange-masked one tuts as he leaps from branch to branch until his sandaled feet meet the ground at last. "By the way, it's pronounced, 'A-ka-tsu-ki'!" he informs her politely with a twirl. 

Haruna scowls at him and grumbles, "That's what I said!"

"Sure thing, hee-hee!" the silly, cloaked one replies airily. 

Haruna watches him for only a moment more before she adjusts the grip on her kunai, allowing it to clink a little in warning. The masked man slows his twirling. "What. Do. You. Want," Haruna asks through gritted teeth, articulating each syllable to show she wasn't playing.

All at once, a deep, resounding chuckle is heard. It seems to reverberate off the trees, and Haruna is left searching in bewilderment and fear for the source of the rumbling laughter. But there is no one else, and upon returning her gaze to the one in front of her, she notices he is no longer twirling. His arms are crossed, almost contemptuously--and his shoulders seem to be vibrating...as if he were laughing.

Haruna is completely rattled. 

"Hmm, Haruna, is it?" the once-nasally shrill voice he'd emitted had been replaced with one of more sonorous, low-toned qualities. The sound it produces is rich and strong, though it is incredibly and dark and grave. Compared to the one before, it's music to Haruna's ears. "I seem to remember someone like you. Young, and vibrant-spirited, yes. Simply full of life." 

Every single part of each individual word is pronounced, down to the letter. Nothing is missed or carelessly skipped over. One might possibly glean from this, the man's meticulous attention to detail--Haruna, however, is instead bothered by his tone. Colorful and enamoring, yes; but Haruna can hear the other elements. Guile. Wit. Cleverness. And, most to her dislike: the glaringly obvious sense of condescension. 

She gives him a hard, leery stare, having barely heard what he had just said about knowing her. 

"Seems nothing has changed," he continues on. "You're still the same, helpless girl I had to save that night." Another chuckle. "And I will bet anything you don't even recognize me."

That snaps the girl to her senses. She widens her eyes to blink as she processes, only to tighten her glare at him once more. But before she can retort with some witty comeback, a gleam of a memory flashes behind her eyes.

Cold. Dark. Pouring rain. Her mother.... A familiar, gentle voice. And a swirled, orange mask. Just a flicker--but she cannot deny that she saw it. However, it all disappears just as quickly as it had materialized, and she is left even more perplexed than she had been just a moment ago. 

"Well, no matter. I am Tobi. And I am inviting--no, I am requesting that you join the Akatsuki." 

Haruna's glower promptly returns. "Why should I?! Who even are you, anyways? You can't tell me what to do!"

The masked man is momentarily silent, but merely snickers afterwards, quietly conceding her point. "Perhaps not," he replies honestly. "However, I hear tell of a certain man whom you wish to do away with...for revenge, was it?"

Haruna's ears perk up at this. She pauses in her stubborn, childish behavior for only a moment--and only for curiosity's sake. "Itachi?"

"Yes," the man replies, and even Haruna can clearly hear the knowing smirk in his voice. "Him. If you will come with me and do as I say, I can lead you right to him."

There is almost no question for Haruna. Anything that can bring her closer to her goal of personal peace is immediately acceptable to her, no matter what it is. Still, she has to wonder why they are so insistent on recruiting her. She decides to ask before agreeing--again, only to sate her curiosity. 

"Why is the Akatsuki so set on hiring a Genin? Aren't you all a bunch of S-rank criminals, or something?" 

This time, the man in the mask lets out a boisterous laugh. Then another. And then another. The vibrations of his baritone merriment echo throughout the forest and nearly shake the ground beneath them. Haruna feels as though she might lose her balance. 

"Oh, you make me laugh," he crows before settling down once more. "Only nine we are, and criminals, indeed. You may be a mere Genin. Even so, we know you will be of use to our Plan, and that is all I will say on the matter." 

Haruna considers this. How could a useless Genin like her be of any use to twelve criminal masterminds? It just does not make any sort of sense to her, so she simply voices the only explanation she can find:

"Are you sure you're not just mistaking me for someone else?"

"Are you not Haruna?" retorted the man. "Born in the Village Hidden in the Leaves to an Uchiha mother and a Hyuga father? Whisked away at a young age, and orphaned shortly after? A survivor of the Uchiha Massacre along with Itachi's younger brother and Itachi himself?" 

The man's words slowly make Haruna angrier and angrier, until her fists are balled tight and her face is a darkened shadow. Her voice comes out as a strained grumble as she replies, "Yes."

"Then, no. I'm afraid it's not a mistake," the man in the mask simply states. "Now, are you coming, or are you staying?" He then turns away from her. 

Directly in front of him, space and time seem to be warped; pulled vigorously by something unseen on the other side. They swirl and coalesce in a gentle circle, not unlike the pattern on the man's mask. It looks to be a portal of some kind. Haruna peers at it with wide, curious eyes. What could be on the other end?

Uncertainty fills her like lead, seeming to freeze her limbs in place. She remembers a time not too long ago when she was offered something very similar. "The power to destroy anyone you wish." Is she very powerful now? Not at all. So, how could this situation be any different? Haruna begins to refuse.

But something stops her: the desire to properly attain revenge. In the end, not even that; just the simple need to avenge her mother. If there is even a chance of making it possible, Haruna naturally cannot refuse. 

She sighs, then accepts. "Alright, fine."

"Wise choice," says the man, gesturing to the portal. "Now, in."

Closing her eyes, the girl takes the leap of faith she most likely shouldn't, and steps into the portal. As the two disappear, Tobi's original, shrill voice jabs at her ears once more. 

"Just remember--you were with Tobi all along~!" His obnoxious laughter rings through the portal and Haruna is left in utter confusion once more as she is dragged through space and time with this strange, annoying creature.


	14. 苦しい遭遇 (Painful Encounter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **warning: foul language

The rather uneventful trip is mostly spent by trying to decipher what Tobi had said to her as they'd departed. The split personality thing he seems to have going on confuses and distresses to her no end. One moment he's a ditzy, annoying brat, and the next, his very voice shakes the ground and rattles her to her core. Had he been warning her not to tell anyone about this? Did they not know he was schizophrenic? So many questions fill her mind as she is set carefully on the ground by the force that had carried her, with "Tobi" landing softly at her side. She eyes him suspiciously as his adolescent act returns once more and he begins to prance around, leaving her behind to take in the surroundings.

Deciding to forget about it all for now, she beings to look around. She notices that they have ended up in a massive cave. The walls, ceiling, and floor are entirely made of stone--and that ceiling is almost completely out of sight as it stretches far above her head. She gazes up at it in wonder for a moment or two before glancing around to gather more information. The lighting is bright red and orange, rather than the dull yellow she'd grown accustomed to, and the concept of the domicile is very open. As she steps from the hallway she'd landed in and into the massive, round opening in the center, she turns in a circle to take it all in. It's nothing like Orochimaru's hideouts--dank and cold, dim and boring--rather, there are dozens of candles that hang on the rock walls, illuminating every crevice. The surface of the wall is opened by many doorways, all leading to other rooms with excellent lighting and, upon closer inspection, interesting furniture. Though the cavern is completely covered and there is no natural light, Haruna feels warm and almost welcome in the cave. It's definitely a new experience for her. 

Tobi continues his childish prancing all the while, and one by one, other robed figures materialize from seemingly nowhere. One with long, flowing golden blonde hair in a ponytail, which Haruna immediately finds attractive. His eyes are crystal blue and shimmer in the candlelight. His face is egg-shaped and slightly chiseled; his features are soft and boyish. Haruna is entranced the longer she looks at him. He notices her staring and sends her a smirk, flicking his hair at her. Blushing, she tears her gaze away, thinking to herself, If they all look like that, this shouldn't be too bad.

Next is a tall man with skin the color of the sky...blue. With a start, she trains her eyes on him and comes to notice the multitudes of gills on his face; cheeks, nose, and forehead, all covered in small slits. Like a shark...and yet, he walks on two legs like a man. It befuddles the girl to no end. She begins to lose hope that they will all look like the blonde one. 

The orange-haired man with the facial piercings and the girl with amethyst locks follow after, and Haruna belatedly recognizes them from the other day. She tenses, hoping they won't meet her gaze. The woman does. She smiles at her. 

Awkward.

After them comes two moderately normal-looking men. One is tall with short, pale blonde hair slicked back against his head. He wears his robe loose and open, with nothing underneath. His washboard abs are shown off almost proudly and he gives the girl a smirk much like the first blonde--though, unlike him, this slick-haired man seems to have a wickedness about him. Haruna shudders. She can almost feel how slimy the man is from where she stands. It makes her remember suddenly how crusty her arms and legs still are. Gross. 

The man behind him wears a mask only revealing his glassy, emerald eyes that seem too old to be open. His entire head and neck are covered, as well, by a fabric of a much lighter gray. Unlike the greasy man in front of him, he walks with a bit of a slouch, and takes his time. If she really looks at his eyes, she can see that where they should have been white, they are instead blood red. It horrifies her, and she is forced to look away from him now before she pukes from the terrifying sight. She takes one step back. 

Following Grease Man and Old Blood Eyes is what looks to be a walking plant. Two long, leafy limbs protrude upwards from the robe that barely holds it in, spines poking from its insides like a venus flytrap. And right in the center of it all, is a man. Half of him is pure white with one golden eye, and the other is black as night, with a simple round, yellow circle for its eye. It slinks its way into the room, taking up its place in the great circle in the very center of the large, open cavern, where the rest of the members had gathered. Haruna just stares at him with the most blatant look of confusion on her face. She has nothing to say. 

It seems no one else would be entering, so she turns her attention to the circle. Even Tobi had settled down and found his place, standing beside Cute Blondie. Haruna made eyes at him again, feeling a strange warmth in her chest as she did so. What could that be? Perhaps she is hungry, she realizes. She hasn't eaten in over two days. As soon as she thinks it, her stomach groans in agony from being empty for so long, and she wraps her arms around it quickly to try and silence it, her face reddening as she knows everyone had heard it growl. 

Everyone had. They all stare at her inquisitively and she feels like she could shrivel up and die at any moment. 

"...ahem," begins the leader, Pein. Haruna recognizes his voice from before, but doesn't react much as she is trying to soothe her cramping stomach. "Now that we're all here, we should--"

"But wait," cries Tobi, interrupting him rather rudely. His arms flail about like limp noodles. "What about Itachi?"

Haruna's entire body goes rigid in that moment, the name zinging about inside her head for several seconds. Why is he here? Whatever is said next hardly reaches her ears as they have begun to ring from the rage boiling in her veins. Her fingers curl up one by one into her palm until they are folded into a solid fist and her knuckles grow pale from the strain. Her head begins to ache. Is this what Tobi meant by leading me to him? She is so absorbed in her own chaotic feelings that she does not notice when the man in question actually enters the room. 

The tall, raven-haired man of more gentle countenance than the younger clone of himself shuffles towards the circle. Like the others, he dons the same black cloak dotted with crimson clouds, but his left arm hangs limply from the front as if broken. It's not; the man is just comfortable like that. He steps to his place, which happens to be right beside the hyperventilating girl. He eyes her in confusion, most likely taking note of the intense aura she is emitting, and sends the leader an inquisitive glance. 

"Is she new?" he asks, his voice velvet and serene.

Haruna hears him speak from beside her and she knows right away. Almost too afraid to move, she begins to shake, her face glowing red with passionate resentment. She doesn't look at him. Not yet. Of course someone as despicable as him would fall in with this sort of people.

Her head is throbbing in pain now.

"Itachi," Pein acknowledges him calmly. "This is Haruna. She is new to our group." 

"Oh?" there had been quite a pause before Itachi responded. He then peers down at the vibrating girl beside him. The look he gives her is...different. 

"That's right!" Tobi giggles from his spot beside Blondie, who does not look amused by the former's loudness. "I was the one that brought her here!" 

"Indeed," Itachi says, his response again belated. He says nothing more. 

Haruna has heard Itachi speak five words in the past minute, and she's almost fed up. She wants nothing more than to end him right where he stands. Her fingers twitch in their curled position; they long to reach into the pack on her thigh take out a knife, and just drag it across his throat. Watch the blood drip down his neck, see the life drain from his evil eyes. The simple thought sends a violent shiver through her, so powerful that a little grunt escapes her. The room spins a little, but Haruna takes little notice of it.

Itachi glances at her again. 

"Anyways," Pein speaks up from his place, clasping his hands together. They make a small tapping noise as they fold. "I've gathered you all here today to discuss the next phase of our plan. As you are all aware, we have successfully captured the One and Two tails--though the former mission left us without one of our members," Pein glances at Blondie, whose face falls in dismay. 

"He shall be missed," he says with faux sadness, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. 

Pein nods in agreement and continues. "The next Bijuu we are after is--thankfully--one without a Jinchuuriki, so it should be easy. Which is why I am sending you, Deidara and Tobi, to get it." He eyes them again, pointedly. 

Tobi gasps excitedly. "Finally, a chance to get out and do some real work!" He grabs at Deidara's arm and tugs on it, bouncing around. 

Deidara disgustedly wrenches away from his grasp, shooting him a nasty glare. "Thanks, boss. We'll get right on that, then." 

"Good," is all Pein says on the matter. 

Haruna is seething. She has taken a few steps away from the raven-haired man beside her and moved closer to Aloe Vera Man instead, for fear of "accidentally" back-handing him. Now that she is part such a distinguished organization as this one, she decides she can't afford to humiliate herself any more than she already has. She's a big girl now, and it's time to make some Big Girl Decisions. So--despite the raging storm going on inside her mind, darkening the color of her cheeks and making even her teeth chatter, she will wait until the right moment to attack him. Just like Sasuke always used to say. 'You wait until the moment is right--then wait two more. Then strike.'

What a bunch of crap.

By now, two more people have been sent out on their missions. Deidara and Tobi have left, along with Aloe Vera, who tagged along with Purple Hair. All the remains now is Pein, Strange Shark, Grease Man and Old Blood Eyes. And Itachi. Pein is about to give out the next round of missions when Grease Man pipes up. 

"Oi, I can't fuckin' take this anymore!" he shouts. His voice is coarse and harsh, his tone like sandpaper against Haruna's eardrums. He lands on each profanity with intent, as if he is hurling them like shuriken at his enemies. "That girl you brought in here--why the fuck is she even here anyways?--Agh, but I'm fuckin' sick and tired of that crazy aura she's got going on over there! Like, shit! Could you tone it down a little? Eh?" He waves his fingers at her in an accusatory manner. 

Haruna nearly snarls at him, her Byakugan already activated, staring deep into his chakra network as if it were his soul and she was ready to devour it. Itachi stares at her again, but says nothing.

Pein finally gives her notice and lets out a sigh. He can practically smell the rage from where he stands. Of course, it just had to be now. Pondering once more why she was even allowed into the group, he simply says, "Haruna. Is there something you need to say?"

Haruna's deadly eyes snap to the leader. Staring coldly into him, she notices those piercings she'd seen before may not actually be piercings. She can see that there are more, and they cover his entire body underneath the robe. And a strange, blue energy seems to radiate off of each one, leading somewhere unknown. It's a peculiar sight, and Haruna even pauses to stare at it for a moment or two.

Pein is expressionless under her gaze. Though, if one were close enough to see, they might notice the single bead of sweat sliding down his temple.

However, Haruna is much too blinded by her impulsive rage to do much about it, and simply snaps at Pein, "Yes. I do have something to say. And that is--" She turns to face Itachi at last. He'd already been staring at her, his deep brown orbs now meeting with hers for the first time in eight years. She takes in his every feature, comparing it to the ones she'd known from long ago. His face had grown longer and thinner now, his eyes more deep-set and big. The once-small creases that had subtly lined the bridge of his nose now fall down long past it. Still, he is quite young--not a blemish on him, nor a wrinkle. His skin is pale and youthful. His expression, however, is something Haruna cannot read, no matter how long she stares. Not even her Byakugan can detect what he is thinking as he gazes down at her. His eyes, which had once been so full of life that they almost dazzled, are now dull and blank, like a hollow, empty room. She can glean absolutely nothing from them; no sort of explanation as to why someone so gentle and kind could become such a monster overnight. Not even the faintest hint of remorse. Her face darkens. "I want to kill him," she says at last.

A snort, a chuckle, and a bark of laughter are heard from the remaining people in the room, minus two. Pein's face remains blank as always. And Itachi...he blinks once. Twice. He says absolutely nothing.

"You want to...you want to what now?!" the blue-skinned shark man chortled between breathless laughs. 

"Fuck, I thought she was just moody," Grease Man guffaws from beside his quietly chuckling partner. "Shit! Naw--she's fucking crazy!" 

Pein side-eyes the laughing men with a hint of annoyance coloring his tone as he speaks. "If she wishes to fight him," he says, returning his gaze to the girl, "so be it. Though she knows not what she is getting in to...." He takes a few steps back until he is in one of the doorways.

"She sure as shit doesn't!" the greaser wheezes, shaking his head as he steps away, as well. The blood-eyed partner follows him. 

"Eh, good luck there, Itachi," the shark jokes, sending a haughty smile in the Uchiha's direction. He, too, clears the room and gives the two space.

Haruna had completely ignored all of them, staring Itachi down relentlessly all the while. So many questions and confusions swirl around within her, along with the recurring vision of her slicing his throat. The image begins to disturb her just a little, as she wonders why she's suddenly thinking so violently. 

He's a monster, she reminds herself sternly. He murdered his entire family. And he stole your revenge. So kill him. Make him pay. 

The voice almost didn't sound like her, but she pushes those feelings aside and slips her hand into the holster on her hip as she had been planning for the pasts fifteen minutes. 

All of a sudden, she is overcome with a wave of nausea, one that nearly knocks her off her feet. She remembers at this point how hungry she is, but swallows it down with all her might. No. It has to wait. It just has to! But her vision is splitting now; there are two Itachis, both blurry and nearly formless, and suddenly the room is upside down. The pounding in her head is incessant and burning, and she begins to think she might crack under its pressure. She barely feels her body collapse, or her head hit the floor as she loses consciousness.


	15. 「なぜ?」 ("Why?")

Haruna awakens the next morning in a pool of sweat. Her skin tingles and burns, and her very core seems to be on fire--but she is freezing cold. Shivering violently. Slowly, her eyes open. Her head weighs a hundred pounds and the room spins on its side like a top. The light is much too bright for her, so she squints and snaps her eyes shut again, whimpering in discomfort.

"Oh, you're awake," comes a voice from her right side.

Haruna jumps a little and peeps one eye open to investigate. Sitting beside her is the purple-haired woman, Konan. In her hand is a cloth which she promptly places on Haruna's forehead. It's ice cold. A shiver tears through her--but despite the frigid feel of the cloth, she is soothed. She closes her eyes again, feeling the throb of her head subside slightly. 

"Good--rest. And also, eat this." Haruna begrudgingly peeks at her again to find that she is offering her a steaming bowl of food. She has to sit up for this, and begins to push herself up to do so. It takes a few tries, but she eventually makes it, accepting the bowl and proceeding to wolf down its contents.

"Hey, slow down or you'll make yourself sick again," Konan warns. Haruna heeds her words and tries to take it slow, despite being so ravenous.

She polishes it all off in a couple of minutes and Konan hands her a tall cup of water. Haruna looks at her blankly. "Drink it," she is commanded. "You're dehydrated." With a sigh, the girl complies. Once the cup is empty, Konan takes it with the promise of returning with more, and leaves the room.

Haruna is left alone with her thoughts. She slowly lies back down, closing her eyes to try and relax. Think over what had happened the night before....

It's mostly a blur to her. She remembers showing up with Tobi, and meeting the cute boy with the golden hair. She remembers Blood Eyes...and attempts to forget about him. The rest is just a bunch of unknowns, but something still sticks out to her. The desire to slit someone's throat and watch them bleed out. Why had she become so violent?

A moment later, she knows why. She gasps aloud as the memory hits her like a speeding train.

Itachi.

Yes...him. She'd finally faced him after all those years and challenged him, but was unable to finally end him like she had hoped, because she had fainted from not eating in two days.

Haruna's gut twists in embarrassment. She is humiliated. She had put up such a strong front (or at least, that's how she remembers it), only to collapse under such little pressure. She'd even lost consciousness! It's so horrifying to her. She is determined to redeem herself, and sits up once more, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

She's preparing to stand up when Konan returns with the water she had promised, and stares blankly at her. Haruna freezes, gazing at her with a guilty expression.

"What are you doing?" Konan asks her calmly.

"I was--I was just--"

"Get back in bed," the older woman replies, waving a hand at her.

Haruna slowly and grumpily obeys.

"Here," Konan says to her after she's back in bed, and hands her the full cup. "Drink it."

Haruna takes it and does as she is told, still determined to get her revenge. She bounces her foot impatiently under the covers, waiting for her pesky nurse to leave.

Konan, however, doesn't seem to be disappearing any time soon. Instead, she towers over the girl's bed with her arms crossed and stares down at her. Her expression is calm and neutral, but her amber eyes are piercing.

"What were you thinking last night?" she at last asks Haruna. "Challenging Itachi like that.... You do know he is the strongest of us all, don't you?"

Haruna, who does not want to speak about Itachi--and nor does she have an inkling of the amount of power he possesses, as she had only known him as a kind-hearted little boy who would cook and clean for her when her mother could not--sends Konan a very unimpressed glare. "The strongest? How was I supposed to know? And who cares? I have a score to settle with him, and I'm going to settle it. I don't care how strong he thinks he is!"

Konan's lips curve into a little smirk. "Everyone seems to have something against him...are you one of the surviving Uchiha, too?" Haruna visibly flinches. "Strange," Konan continues on, "I thought he'd left only Sasuke behind."

Haruna's grip on the cup tightens and she tears her gaze away from the other, dropping it instead into the water she is supposed to be drinking. She stares angrily at the reflection upon it. "That's not why I want to kill him," she grumbles. "I wanted to be the one. But he took it from me."

Konan raises an eyebrow. "The one...what?"

"The one to slaughter the Uchiha Clan." Haruna stares up at her again, anger evident on her face.

Konan's eyes grow wide.

Haruna presses on, "They killed my mother. They sent us away. They tore my family apart.... But Itachi. Sweet, innocent Itachi--the one who'd practically raised me for four years--he had to be the one. And what even was his reason? Huh?" Her eyes begin to sting as they well with tears. Her tone heightens as emotion filters into it. "Why did he do it? How could someone so sweet and kind turn into someone so horrible in the blink of an eye?" A tear slips down her cheek and she looks away, ashamed once again. She's said too much.

Konan is silent for a while, but eventually places a hand on her shoulder. Her voice is a bit softer than normal as she says, "There's no way you can beat him, Haruna. His eyes are immensely powerful. If you try to fight against him...you'll lose yourself. He will trap you in a twisted version of reality and torture you until you go insane. I know how you feel, but I don't think it's wise to challenge him...especially not in your current state." She slowly retracts her hand and takes a step back from the bed. "But in the end, I cannot tell you what to do. So, I will not." She turns on her heel and is about to exit the room when something makes her pause, her hand on the doorframe and half of her body across the threshold. "Oh and, if you are still going to foolishly challenge him, you should probably hurry. Him and Kisame are about to leave." With that, she disappears from the room, the click of her heels fading into silence as she does.

Haruna sits in her place for a moment, considering Konan's words with caution. He'll trap you in a twisted version of reality and torture you until you go insane. Her grave warning repeats in her mind, giving her pause. If Haruna is honest with herself, she admits that it doesn't sound too good. It sounds horrible. In fact, it terrifies her. She begins to second-guess herself. She knows she's useless as a ninja; how could she defeat someone that skilled? He is an Uchiha, after all...and by the sounds of things, one very familiar with Genjutsu. How can she go up against that? She can't even sense chakra without her Byakugan.

She begins to despair, and her world crumbles. How can she fulfill her goal of defeating him now? How can she ever? With no one to train her, she can't get better. She can't train herself, because she doesn't know how she should be training. How can this be? She'd honestly had no idea of Itachi's strength, and failure had just never been an option for her. But if he is truly as strong as Konan had warned her, what is there for Haruna to do?

"Nothing," Haruna realizes aloud as the tears begin to flow. She sobs. "There's nothing I can do...." She bows her head and sobs again, her eyes closing tightly. It does little to hold in the countless tears the flow, dripping off her chin onto her blanket-covered lap. She cries quietly for a long while, mourning the loss of her goal. In the moment of sadness and despair, she begins to question her existence, too. Why am I even alive? What am I good for? I can't even avenge my own mother. She will never be able to rest in peace...and it's all because of me. Because I'm pathetic and weak. I'm no use to anyone.

The words hurt even as she thinks them, but she knows they are true--and that hurts even more. She thinks over her life with disdain.

A freak from birth. Never fit in. Fled from my home village at age six and was orphaned shortly after. Abandoned my new home after I killed my teammates, joined up with two disgusting human beings. Tried to make friends with someone from the past, but that didn't work, because I am just unlikeable and pathetic. And now I've joined a group of criminals.

Haruna realizes as she thinks about all this that she hasn't thought about her strange deformity in a long time. Sniffling, she reaches up her hand to touch the slit on her forehead. It's still the same; smooth and wide, protruding slightly like a bump. Always there; always a mystery.

"You freak," she mutters, dropping her hand. By now, her tears have mostly stopped, though she has never felt so empty and hollow before. It's as if her very being has been stripped away. There's nothing left for her now; no reason to live or even survive. No purpose. No drive. So why is she still here?

In the end, all Haruna wants to know is why. Why did Itachi do it? Why did he slaughter the clan? Why did he lie to her for so long about who he really was? These are questions she is desperate to have answered. It takes her a few moments, but eventually, Haruna realizes that she can have them answered. She can ask the one person who knows.

Him and Kisame are about to leave. Haruna remembers Konan saying this, and it doesn't take long for her to leap from the bed, the cup of water wobbling on the ground, threatening to fall over as she dashes from her room. She ignores the throbbing headache that colors her vision dark, and looks past the dizziness that turns the room around as she stumbles into the main opening, searching for the man with the answers. He's gotta be around here somewhere, she says to herself, turning in a wobbly circle. She hardly notices the one standing there, staring at her strangely.

"You looking for something?" he asks her after a moment more of aimless wandering.

Haruna snaps her attention to the golden blonde man she had met yesterday, and her cheeks are instantly warm. She stops her movements, though the room never does. "A-ah...yes...I'm looking for Itachi, actually," she says to him, stuttering all the while.

"Hn," Deidara grunts at her, then points directly behind her. "That way. He's leaving with Kisame, so you might want to hurry."

Haruna nods and mutters her thanks before spinning on her heel and booking it in that direction. Her steps are uneven and crooked, and Deidara is left wondering if she'd somehow gotten drunk.

Regardless, she runs down the path he had given her, a new hallway she hadn't noticed before coming into view. At the end of this hall is a solid wall with no exit. And walking down this hall...are Itachi and Kisame. They're nearing the end, and Haruna knows she doesn't have enough time.

"Ita...Itachi!" she cries out to him, the first attempt having failed as she hadn't yet found her voice. She picks up the pace to a jog, nearly falling over on the way.

Itachi had heard her, and presently stops. His partner had taken a few more steps before he, too, paused and turned to see what was going on. He watches the scene unfold with mild amusement and says nothing.

The unstable Haruna nearly flings herself at Itachi, finally catching up to him. Legs aching, she sinks to her knees at his feet and stares up at him. His back is to her, but he is listening. He, too, says nothing.

Her tears return. "Itachi," she begins, her voice catching as she begins to cry. "Itachi...I just want to know why. Why did you do it? You...you lied to me and Mother. Lied about who you really were...that you were capable of murder. Why?" She sobs quietly, her tears dripping softly onto the floor. "And why did you take from me my only chance--my only hope of ever finding peace?! H-how could you?!" She screams at him now, her rage-filled voice echoing throughout the cave. But only silence follows. Dead silence.

She sits there in her pool of tears and cries, waiting for him to respond. Her heart is racing in her chest, beating like a wild animal--she can hear it thudding in her ears. Her skin pricks and tingles still, acting as if cold though beneath it is a raging furnace. She sweats a little, her forehead shining in the candle light with dampness. She feels so sick and exhausted, but she has to know. She has to have an answer. So there she remains, fighting everything in her that tells her to lie down and pass out. She digs her nails into her palms from the strain and continues crying.

Itachi had heard her questions; heard the despair in her voice as she had asked them. He heard it well. His face never shows even the faintest flicker of emotion, and he simply stares blankly ahead with his partner looking on, seemingly intrigued. Even now, as she sobs from behind him on the ground, he makes no moves to comfort or console her. He doesn't even turn to face her. He just stays in his place silently, and not a word escapes him.

Haruna, seeing that she is not getting an answer, speaks up again. "I-Itachi! Please! Please just tell me why...," her voice cracks and fades near the end. "Itachi, why...."

Feeling the strangest sense of déjà vu, Itachi parts his lips and speaks at last.

"To...test the limits...of my abilities," he replies coldly.

Haruna freezes cold and stares at him with wide eyes full of shock and dismay. "To...test...your abilities?" she questions him quietly, her broken heart crumbling into even smaller pieces. "You lied to us...you killed your entire clan...just to test...your abilities?"

"Yes," says Itachi, who then begins to step away from her and towards his partner. He's done with the conversation.

Haruna, however, is not. "Y-you monster!" she screams at him, her voice carrying throughout the cavern once more. Pure hatred and agony color her words, and even Itachi feels the sting. He stops beside Kisame, who eyes him warily but says nothing. Itachi continues to stare blankly at the wall as Haruna presses on.

"I may not be able to kill you now, but someday, I will! Someone as despicable as you shouldn't be allowed to live!" She speaks so passionately, even spitting at him, before weakly getting to her feet. She feels even more lost than she had before, regretting ever deciding to find out the truth as it only leaves her in more pieces that she'd already been. She doesn't know what she had expected, but it certainly wasn't this. That he shows no semblance of remorse only serves to make her more angry, fanning the flames of hatred within her until they grow so large that they lick at every part of her being. If she wasn't determined to kill him before, she certainly is now.

Itachi never responds. He simply glances for one moment at Kisame and walks towards the very end of the wall, signing something with his hand and disappearing. Kisame, whose eyes had followed him, now gives Haruna an apprehensive glance before doing the same.

Haruna is left alone in the hallway with nothing but her tears and the sound of her raspy sobs. She slowly turns away from where Itachi had disappeared, shaking her head in disbelief. Sniffling, she leans against the wall for support and stumbles out of the hallway. Once the wall is gone, the room resumes its spinning--but Haruna lets it carry her this time, collpasing to her knees and hunching over. A bit of bile drips from her mouth, and another wave of nausea crashes against her. She nearly throws up on the floor, but clasps her hand over her mouth to hold it in. It is at that point that Konan rushes to her side and lifts her, whispering something unintelligible as she brings her back to her room.

Back in bed, Haruna is fed more and commanded to drink the water she is given. There she remains for several days to recover, and all the while she goes numb. She eats because she is told; because it would be easier than resisting and fighting Konan about it. She hates it. She doesn't want to eat or drink.

She wants to die.


	16. 真実 (The Truth)

As the days slowly turn into weeks, Haruna becomes more and more restless. Antsy. Time seems to pass so slowly within the cave, and sometimes, Haruna wonders if it has even passed at all. With no sun or moon to guide her through each day, she slowly begins to lose the sense of distinction between a moment and an hour. Long had she spent in her bedroom before she had finally recovered. It is unusual for her to be sick for so long. Rarely does she fall ill--but the odd times when she does tend to be servere and lengthy. Though she is unaware of how much time had truly passed, it is about a week and a half before she is fully recovered and on her feet, glad to be rid of the boiling fevers and the night terrors that come with them.

Now, she leisurely strolls through the cave to stretch her legs. She is itching to go outside and breathe the crisp air. To smell the fresh damp grass in the morning dew and run through the bushes and trees as far as her feet will take her. She's been cooped up for far too long, and it is beginning to wear on her. The creeping feeling of claustrophobia is slow, but ever persistent. She knows if she spends much longer in there, she will go insane.

Thus, her next order of business after stretching is to find Pein and ask him if she can leave. Even if only for an hour. Just a walk. He wouldn't say no to that, would he? Haruna is certain he won't.

The idea of escaping crosses her mind, however. She pictures herself finally free of any and all restrictions, rules--caves. The idea is incredibly enticing--but she stops dead in her thought path after a moment of consideration. Where would she go? How would she survive? She is only a Genin, with hardly any experience...well--she certainly has some, having been trained by Orochimaru. She has the basic survival skills, is generally good with most weapons, and has a functioning _Byakugan_ , to boot. However, she still does not even know how to sense others' chakra, despite being able to control it enough to use it on her feet when walking across water or hanging off of a ceiling. Haruna frowns. It's still quite the enigma. She remembers how she had tried so hard to get it right, while Sasuke had nailed it on the first try. She could almost feel a block within her chakra network, physically preventing her from exuding her chakra in that way. It made no sense.

However, back to the thought at hand, Haruna comes to the conclusion that because of her lack of skill, she would not survive for very long if she were to escape. With a sigh, she turns around and heads to the center room in search of Pein. She won't try to escape. She has nowhere but here to be...what other choice does she have?

 _I just hope he at least lets me go for a walk,_ she thinks to herself as her eyes lock onto the man she is in search of. She shyly approaches him, and he regards her as she does so. There is not a hint of emotion on his face.

"Ah...Pein," she begins nervously, biting at her lower lip slightly.

He raises one eyebrow at her.

"I-I was just wondering if I could maybe, you know...go outside...and take a walk? I'm just feeling really cramped in here...it's really stuffy." Her tone is genuine and honest, and her gaze does not waver.

Pein, however, is not a fool. He shakes his head once. "Unfortunately, no. You must stay here, where you're safe and guarded," he explains to her, his mysterious ringed eyes boring deeply into her. "You're but a Genin, and for now, there are no missions you would be able to properly complete. We are in a very...tedious phase of our plan at the moment." That's all that is said on the matter. With that, he turns from her and leaves, not even giving her the chance to speak.

This infuriates the girl, who hates being kept hostage, and can feel the tightness in her chest increasing steadily. That, and she is also embarrassed by the fact that she is a fifteen-year-old and still _just a Genin._  She could have been a Jonin by now, she realizes. It fills her with so much shame and frustration that she simply sulks back to her room and flops on the bed. She glares a hole in the wall across from her and slowly sinks into her thoughts. 

 _That went well,_  she thinks to herself. _They won't even let you out to breathe...looks like you're stuck. You're going to rot away in this damned cave._

The thought brings Haruna to a bit of a panic, as she had been grounded to her bed for so long already...and to the cave itself for even longer. Even now, the cot she lays upon feels hard as a rock; formless and unforgiving on her back. It does little to comfort her. In fact, it only heightens the sense of being trapped. So as she lays there quietly, glowering at the ceiling, the agonizing constriction bears down on her, growing stronger by the second. It slowly drives her insane, until she is forced to leap from her bed and grimace at it out of disgust. She shakes her head slowly. She's not going back there for a long time. 

"Well," she says after a moment or two, calming down slightly as she is upright, "if I'm not allowed to leave, I may as well look around." So that is what she does. Her limbs still ache a little from not moving for so long, so as she steps out of her bedroom, she takes the time to stretch her legs out as far as they can go, groaning as the joints are loosened and pop in satisfaction. She raises her arms over her head and smiles a little to herself, already feeling slightly better. _Maybe I won't rot in that bed, after all,_  she muses as she saunters back into the massive center of the cave, glancing all around. 

No one seems to be there, which leaves her a bit unsettled. She peeks into every room she sees, and finds absolutely no one. No Pein, no Konan. Not even Tobi can be found anywhere. The cave is dead silent; only the clicks of her footsteps echo throughout the cavern, eerily ringing about. It's strange. She stops after a few more minutes of searching, thinking to herself. The wheels in her head slowly turn and she eventually comes to realize that if no one is there, that means no one can tell her she can't leave. No one can get her into trouble if she leaves. 

No one can stop her. 

It only takes a second before she's sprinting down the massive hallway she had first come in, ready to get the hell out. The idea of finally being free, being able to see the light of day again, being able to breathe the sweet fresh air--it brings life to her. She feels a ray of hope for the first time in weeks. 

That all comes crashing down on her when she reaches the boundary of the hallway and realizes rather abruptly that she has no way out. The end of the hall is a solid wall. Her heart sinks to the floor and a furious glare settles on her face, darkening her gaze immensely. She stares at the unforgiving wall with the purest form of hatred, wishing numerous horrible things upon it. Stopping before it, her pace having slowed to a walk, she recalls how Itachi and his partner had disappeared through it. She wonders what sort of Jutsu is required to do such a thing. A reverse-summoning, perhaps? 

She activates her _Byakguan_  to search it, and is instead met with a human figure carrying a considerable amount of chakra within them--especially around their eye area. Shocked and confused, Haruna stumbles back and lets her own eyes fade back to normal. _The wall is made of a person?--_

Just then, Itachi fades through the wall, appearing before her slowly as his form fully materializes. His eyes are closed and he remains there for a few moments in silence. Plenty of time for Haruna to process just who it is--and for her anger to increase tenfold. Without hesitation, she storms over to him and winds back with her fist, ready to deliver a mighty blow to the man she hates most. Letting out a scream, she throws the punch at his face--

"Aggh!" she cries out as her fist is roughly crushed against the wall. Itachi is beside her now, his eyes slowly peeping open at her. Pain courses through her arm, throbbing and pulsing, and she can feel the skin on her knuckles has split. Tentatively, she pulls her hand close to her and peers at it. It's bleeding. 

"That was rather unwise," Itachi notes, his voice soft. 

Haruna snaps her gaze to him and cradles her bloody hand. "You're such an asshole," she spits at him, vitriol biting at her tone. 

He stares at her vacantly, clearly unaffected by her choice of words. "Hm," is all he says to her. 

Haruna growls and kicks her leg at him, attempting to hit his shin with her forceful blow. She misses. 

"No amount of violence or hatred is going to change anything," Itachi tells her quietly with a small sigh. She merely scowls at him. "And let me tell you something else," he adds, leaning in a little close to her. His murky brown eyes focus firmly on her, leaving her almost petrified under his calm gaze. Why, she does not know. "If you do kill me, you will live to regret it. There are those who would rather take care of it, themselves. Others who have put their all into it...others who have stopped at nothing to achieve their goal. I'm only going to warn you once: this revenge is not yours to take." With that, he pulls away, and walks silently down the hall, leaving her alone with her bewilderment. 

Haruna stands still for many moments, trying to make sense of it all. Trying to fight the urge to go after him and just slit his throat. Get it over with. How _dare_  he tell her that her revenge isn't even hers? Besides being absurd, it's just plain horrible to say. And what right does he have to be telling her this, anyways? It just sends her to the moon with fury. Her face burns as she slowly turns around, stomping down the hall towards Konan's room. Itachi is nowhere to be found, which Haruna haughtily thinks is lucky for him. She knows if she sees him, she will readily attack. 

Trembling with rage, she paws through Konan's drawers until she finds the bandage she needs, wrapping it around her hand tightly and securing it well. It throbs and aches, but she ignores it. All the while, Itachi's words echo in her ears, yanking her closer to the edge each time. The audacity! The gall! She simply cannot comprehend how one man could be so abominable. So loathsome. But underneath the passionate rage and enmity, there is pain, raw and biting. Sharp, stinging betrayal. Cold, empty disbelief. She won't admit it, but she is so hurt by his actions, so very confused. She can't picture the wonderfully sweet and kind-hearted boy she'd once known as the cruel, awful man with a glaringly distinct lack of feelings that she now has to deal with. It's unimaginable and unreal to her. Part of her hopes that he isn't the real Itachi. Perhaps the real Itachi died a long time ago. Perhaps this is an impostor. It almost makes her feel better to think this.

But she knows deep in her heart it isn't true. 

 _People can change,_ she reminds herself. _Look at Sasuke, how he changed. Look at me...._  Yes; she, too, had changed quite a bit. She thinks back to the days in the Valley Village with her friends, skipping about in the fields and playing tag, begging Sensei for money for dumplings...the Haruna now is much different. She had been much more naïve when she was younger; more eager and almost bright. She looks back and remembers how simple things had been, and how much she'd fancied herself a stone-cold warrior whose only goal had been revenge. She scoffs at this, shaking her head as she gazes down at the injured appendage. How foolish. How childish. How _basic._ She had known nothing back then; nothing about what it takes to truly attain revenge. Does she know much about it now? Haruna considers.

_I know much more...and yet, still so little._

It's strange to admit it, but Haruna realizes in that very moment, how foolish she still is to this day. How little she understands, and how little she is capable of. A disappointed frown settles upon her face.

_'There are those who would rather take care of it, themselves....'_

Itachi's strange statements linger a moment longer within her. She mulls over them, attempting to translate them into something she can understand. It's frustrating and tiring, and she's close to giving up. She finds it bizarre that Itachi had been so cryptic, as if he were hiding some sort of message. It didn't exactly seem like Itachi to be sneaky like that. He had only just told her that he slaughtered his entire family for the sake of testing his abilities...how much more straightforward can one be? To Haruna, it seems as though he is the type of person to tell it straight without leaving anything out.

 _He hardly talks, though,_ she realizes. Perhaps, then, he's one to choose his words more carefully...?

Haruna shakes her head in defeat. There's just no figuring that guy out. She turns to leave as she has come to remember she is standing in Konan's bedroom for no reason, but is instead stopped in her tracks by none other than Tobi.

Haruna lets out a screech in surprise and jumps back several feet, flailing her arms about as if to defend herself. "Hey! How long have you been standing there, Tobi?!" she shrieks.

But "Tobi" is long gone. Instead, the contralto chuckle of the strange, deep-voiced man has returned in his place.

"You seem to be in a bit of a trance," he remarks almost amusedly. "Lost in thought?"

Haruna's arms lower and she gives him a hard stare. "I was fixing my hand," she snaps. "What do you want? And why do you keep changing your voice like that?" She narrows her eyes at him. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

Another chuckle--this one even more nefarious than she'd ever heard.

"We all have our secrets," he replies, leaning comfortably against the doorframe. His arms fold neatly across his chest, and Haruna notes the slight change in attire. The normal Akatsuki robe has vanished, leaving merely a black shirt and loose, black pants behind in its stead. The orange mask has not moved. Curiosity prickles her senses.

_I wonder if one of those secrets is behind that mask...._

"Speaking of secrets," he continues after a beat, "I know of one that might interest you. Shall I share it?"

Haruna's gaze widens and narrows several times in a matter of seconds, the wheels in her head spinning as she tries to comprehend this. Why, is her first question--why is he coming to her now with a secret that 'might interest her'? What would he ask of her in return? Why is he even here?! An endless chatter of questions and confusions congest in her brain until she's forced to shake them all away. She glares at him suspiciously.

Curiosity, one of her greatest emotions, once again prevails despite all odds. Casting her fears aside, she allows him to speak. "What is it?" she demands in a biting tone.

"Hm," 'Tobi' grunts at her, shifting his weight a bit. "Won't you even ask what I want in return? Or are you so confident as to assume it will be nothing of consequence?"

"What do you want," Haruna questions through gritted teeth, agitated. She had been sort of hoping to get away with it, but now it seems that will not be the case.

"Heh, you seem so desperate to learn of my tale...shall I tell you my terms afterwards?"

Haruna is growing tired of the teasing. Still bewildered at his strange offering, she feels almost nervous to find out what it is he's willing to share with her. And yet still, her curiosity reigns above all other emotions within her--as does her impatience. "Tell me now or later, I don't care! If it's so interesting then let me hear it already!"

His deep laugh rumbles from below her, sending a shiver down her back. "Very well, I shall tell you, curious one. It is of Itachi."

The girl's eyes widen slowly.

"Tobi" straightens, cradling his elbows close to his frame, seemingly pondering something before continuing on. "You know of him as nothing more than a worthless criminal...a liar...a disgrace to the Uchiha name. A man so gentle and loveable that it was _inconceivable_ to you and the rest when he turned traitor...and murdered each and every member of his family in cold blood. Well--all except two."

Haruna's good hand tightens into a fist of rage, fading into white as it is squeezed and clenched. She stays silent.

"I, however, know the truth. He was a child, who from a very young age, had seen the effects war leaves in its wake...bloody, broken families, innocent, murdered children, homes and entire cities destroyed, leaving some alive with nothing...and others, dead with nothing. He grew up in a clan so full of themselves that they had become blinded by their power...slowly losing every bit of themselves that was even sane; that wanted to help the village, rather than harm it. He grew into a very young man with pacifist ideals, who joined the village's secret Anbu Corps at age fourteen in hopes of defending it with all his might. He was a prodigy. The golden child of the Uchiha. Everyone had such high hopes for him.

"Tensions were strong and ever rising between the Uchiha and the Leaf...distrust and animosity festered, and thus, the need for a spy arose. A spy for each side. Itachi, ever loyal to his clan, agreed to keep an ear open within his ranks and even above. To "keep tabs", if you will, on the village's goings-on...and the Elders' conversations.

"And Itachi, just as loyal to his village, also agreed to act as a spy on the Uchiha for the Leaf.  Consequently, a double agent was born."

Haruna listens to him carry on with this nonsense, her very core shaken with revolt and disgust at the sound of it. It becomes apparent to her that Tobi is trying to paint Itachi as innocent, and the thought of it wrenches her stomach into knots. Her throat closes up slowly as her heart tries to squeeze through it...she feels as though she may faint.

"N-no...," she murmurs, her voice so weak despite the scalding fury coursing through her. "Lies...."

"Not in the least," Tobi replies. "He spent a few years as a double agent, looking on from both sides as things rapidly went from bad to worse. His clan grew ever restless and furious, feeling as though they were being treated unfairly. They strongly disliked having been relocated after the Nine Tails' attack, being cast out of their own village and treated as outsiders...they were the police, after all. Because of their pent up frustrations, they began to take it out on everyone in the village...their regimes became harsher and stricter, and more people were being hurt or roughed up by members of the police force every day...the Elders looked down upon this rather distastefully." He chuckles lightly, seemingly unaware of the girl's fragile, trembling state. "To the Uchiha, it was all justifiable. They were being treated unfairly, though they were innocent, and they were not about to sit idly by and let it happen. The Elders disapproved of their actions and eventually began to wish the clan away. It seemed like their only option, but the Third Hokage told them to wait, instead, and allow Itachi to listen and inform them of the Clan's moves, first. Even when Itachi reported that the Clan had begun planning a coup d'etat, the Third insisted on patience...he wished to simply 'talk things over', instead...for he, too, was a pacifist. But the Elders did not agree with the Third's decisions...no, not at all." He shakes his head slowly, a small smile present in his voice.

Haruna has sunk onto Konan's bed behind her, unable to hold herself up now as Tobi splurts these _lies_ at her. Nauseated and weary, she lets the man speak, regretting ever agreeing to hear his ridiculous story. She knows deep in her core that none of it is true. There is just no way. All that time he'd spent taking care of her and her mother's house when she was small...he couldn't have had time to be an officer of the Leaf at the same time while _als_ o being a double agent...no. _No._ Lies.

"Lies!" Haruna shakes her head wildly, and though she had tried to yell, it had come out as more of a harsh whisper instead. Her voice is hoarse and hardly there. 

Tobi just chortles at her and presses on with his story. "One Elder in particular--Danzo was his name--had very strong feelings about the Uchiha. He wanted them dead more than anyone else. And so he gave Itachi an ultimatum: Kill the clan himself and allow his little brother to live, or Danzo would send one of his personal officers to finish the job for him...leaving none spared."

"You liar!" Haruna's scream reaches Tobi's ears properly this time as tears stream down her face. She launches herself at him, and Tobi can see the flash of red on her forehead as her bangs fly about wildly.

He smirks in satisfaction. "Naturally, he chose the former, opting to save his precious little brother's life in exchange for the Clan's."

"Aagghh!" Haruna's wails echo through the cavern as she throws herself into Tobi to attack him--but instead flies through thin air and lands roughly on the ground. It's as if Tobi had completely dematerialized...though as Haruna snaps her head around to stare inquisitively in his direction, his form remains ever present.

He turns to stare at her, chuckling all the while. The colors of his voice are shockingly dark and feel only like sharp needles stabbing into her ears with each ring. She cries ceaselessly and gazes up at him in despair. Why is he telling her such grand lies? All it does is rip her apart, because she wishes it really was the truth...but she knows it is not.

Tobi tilts his head slightly. "What's this? You don't believe me?" He sounds utterly amused as a wicked laugh erupts from his chest. He squats down to reach her level, gazing at the menacing red eye which had opened on the girl's forehead. He stares directly into it for a moment, recalling a night from a long time past....

"You're a filthy, rotten liar," Haruna spits at him, kicking her legs which feel like lead so heavy she can hardly move them. They barely graze Tobi's leg.

The masked one flickers his one-eyed gaze back to the girl's Hyuga orbs and smirks. "Look at this mask and tell me you do not remember," he says to her. "Gaze into this eye...," his Sharingan activates from behind his mask, boring intensely into the half-breed below him, "...and tell me right now that you do not recall that night."

Haruna freezes as she glimpses the ever-familiar glow from the eyehole of Tobi's mask...that of a Sharingan. _An Uchiha?!_

Staring at the mask, the hair, and the eye, her head begins to pulse and a grimace crosses over her face. She grips her temples tightly and grunts as painfully bright flashes of light zing behind her eyes. Flashes that slowly fade into visions. Visions of her mother on a dark, cold night.

_It's pouring rain and all Haruna can see is her mother, whom she clings tightly to. The warmth of her chest and the blanket that surrounds her keeps the cold off of her, despite the dampness of the fabric and the rushing wind around her as the woman carrying her begins to sprint. Just before that, however, Haruna thinks she'd caught a glimpse of an orange mask...._

"Ngh, make it s-stop!" Haruna whimpers as sharp pains throb behind her eyes. She shuts them tightly as Tobi simply stares at her silently.

_A masked man stands at the door as Haruna opens it for him, reeling back in horror as the person is unfamiliar to her._

_'M-Momma,' she whines, running back into the house to hide._

"Please! It h-hurts!" Haruna is shrieking, the pain so great and heavy that it begins to eat away at her consciousness. She feels herself fading....

_'Take your child and run,' a deep, melodious voice says, 'if you wish for her to live.'_

Haruna gasps out loud as the connection is finally made. The pain stops, her head gently pounding as the blood rushes to heal it again. Her consciousness and sense of self return to her. She opens her eyes slowly and stares at Tobi in shock and realization.

"Y...you were...there," she breathes. "That night--"

"How astute of you," Tobi's laughs rattle in his chest. "How do you think you and your mother escaped from our wrath? Foolish child...."

Something clicks within her. "'Our' wrath?!" She stares at him wildly as everything slowly begins to crash down upon her.

Tobi nods. "Yes, 'our'. Little does anyone know that I was the one to destroy the Uchiha Clan...it is I who murdered each one with my bare hands." A small laugh; just one. "No--Itachi laid his hands on merely two people that night: his parents."

Haruna's dead silence is enough to satisfy Tobi. He presses on.

"In fact, I had planned to kill you and your mother, too. But Itachi would not let me--no, no. When he came to me for help, he gave me two conditions: spare his brother, and allow for Natsumi and little Haruna to escape in time from the clan. I laughed how a few members had still followed you two on your long journey...Itachi was furious, but I could not control it." He shrugs nonchalantly, as if recounting a visit to the market.

Haruna's quivering heart beats with ever increasing fervor as he continues his story. As angry and confused as she feels, his words intrigue her, as she has always wondered what had really happened that night and why they had truly escaped in such a rush. Her mother had always told her it was to keep her safe and never expanded on it. But this new information has given her a new aspect of her life to look upon....

"Why...why didn't Itachi come to us...why did it have to be you?" Even before the question formed fully in her head, it has already spilled from her lips. The tears never end; nor does her trembling. Everything she has ever known is a lie...and once again, she feels so utterly betrayed and conflicted. Still, she waits with bated breath for his answer.

"Hmm," Tobi hums to himself, shifting onto his butt on the floor and crossing his legs. "He never did say."

Haruna is disappointed and it shows blatantly on her face. She closes her eyes as her fractured heart loses even more pieces. There will never be peace for her now....

"I have a theory on it, however," Tobi adds. "From what little I heard him speak of you and your mother, one thing rang through loud and clear for me. Regret."

Haruna's eyes slowly open, more tears spilling from them. She sniffles and stares at him sadly, waiting for him to explain.

"He regretted much. It was obvious. But he also loved. He loved his brother enough to kill his entire conniving clan to save him...and he loved you enough that it warranted him to make absolutely certain of your safety after the atrocity had been committed, and he took the blame for it." He shakes his head. "Pathetic, honestly. Having feelings like that only serves to weaken you...." He slowly gets to his feet now, leaving a quietly sobbing Haruna alone beneath him. "Pity, I warned him about it, too. And there he is now, out there fighting with his younger brother, most likely to perish under the crushing weight of his illness and blind love...." He tuts and adjusts his clothes, his tone light and uncaring.

"H-he--" Haruna's eyes fly open as she suddenly realizes what Itachi's strange message had been about. _'There are those who would rather take care of it, themselves....'_ Haruna leaps to her feet and immediately reaches out, grabbing Tobi urgently by the shirt, her fists clenching around the rough fabric. She's an absolute mess: her hair flying every which way, her eyes puffy and red from crying...her heart and mind in shambles as she has to once again piece together everything she had once known...but none of that is important now as she ardently demands to know where Itachi is. "I must go to him! I can't let Sasuke kill him if this is all true! H-he--" it hurts to say. She doesn't want to. It sounds wrong in her head, so who knows how much worse it will sound when it leaves her lips....

Nevertheless, her mouth trembles as the words tumble out, following her endless tears. " _He doesn't deserve to die!"_

Tobi promptly removes her hands, shaking his head twice. He stares at the eye on her forehead, which is beginning to close, and frowns in disappointment. Another failed experiment. "You won't make it in time," he tells her. "He's already fading away. Besides, you can't even get out of the cave by yourself...." As if to parallel his own words, he, too, begins to dissipate.

Realization sets in then, and as if the emotional rollercoaster Haruna has been on already wasn't enough, she finds herself sinking even deeper into the pit of utter despair and hopelessness. She can't even get out of the cave by herself. It leaves her feeling so hollow and useless...so pathetic. She sobs her heart out as Tobi leaves her alone in Konan's bedroom without a single condolence. It is there on the floor that Haruna Uchiha is truly broken apart--in the deepest, most irrevocable way--for the second time in her life.


	17. 目ざめ (Awakening)

Tears. Endless tears. The only thing her eyes seem to be good for is crying. She lies there on the floor for an immesurable length of time just sobbing. Weeping over her lack of worth to anyone; lamenting the years she spent caught up in a lie. A lie she had truly believed and had basically centered her life around...a lie that is about to bring someone so dear to her to his own demise.

Yes, Itachi is dear to her. She realizes this as time goes on, her sobs slowly lessening to weak sniffles. She lies on the floor in silence and stares at the ceiling as she sorts out her feelings once more. She regrets everything. She feels a pang of remorse as she remembers the things she'd said to him. _You don't deserve to live. You're a rotten liar. You're such an asshole._

It brings her to tears once more and she curls into a tight ball, hugging her knees to her chest. "No," she whimpers. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Itachi...."

The things she has fervently wished were true had turned out to be so. He is not the terrible betrayer she'd pictured him as. No--he is a hero. A martyr. And he loves his brother. He loves her. It fills her with relief, but at the same time, she feels so lost and empty from it all. Her entire mindset, her attitude, and her perspective all must be changed. The thought is so exhausting.

She calms down once again and wipes her cheeks, feeling her head throb. She sits up slowly and rubs her aching temples, closing her eyes for a while to rest them. It is then that she realizes that she is still perfectly able to see, though it seems some strands of blue hair cover her field of vision.

This catches her off guard. She freezes in place, her two eyes shut tight. She glances around slowly, completely bewildered as her vision grows sharper; completely focused in the middle. The very fringes of her sight are blurred, as if she has hyperfocused on a point in the very center, and the hue of her gaze gradually reddens. Only slightly. Haruna also notices that she is seeing things from a couple of inches higher up than she is used to. Shakily, she reaches up a hand until it enters her field of view, and then slowly brings it closer until her vision is obstructed entirely by it. Her palms and fingertips gently press against her forehead as she does so, and she jumps to her feet, her hand flying away. Her two eyes open, and suddenly, her vision triples and grows blurry. Her head spins and she stumbles, stretching out her arms in search of something to grasp onto. Instead, she backs into the wall and leans against it for support, shutting her eyes once more. The reddish, hyperfocused vision returns, and Haruna stands there in shock.

"The eye...it opened?" Haruna questions aloud, holding her hand up to her forehead once more and pushing the bangs away from the eye underneath them. She is enamored; completely enthralled by the stunning vision she is suddenly graced with. She looks all around the room now, staring long and hard at each object. She tries to focus on other things in her peripheral, but finds it to be near impossible. Instead, she learns that she can gaze directly upon something and see its finest details...the tiniest scratches upon the covers of books, specks of dust gently resting on furniture--even as she stares directly into the bulb of light above her, she can see clearly the wires within it, and the electricity humming through them. She is completely in awe.

"This is...this is so...," she breathes, unable to even finish her sentence. Spotting a mirror in the corner, she rushes towards it and stands before it. Peering at her reflection, she can see the once-mysterious slit on her forehead has been spread apart, revealing a large, red eye--with many ringlets and _tomoe_ dotting its surface. It reminds her very much of Pein's eyes, as if the Sharingan had been mixed with them. Never having seen it before, she stares at it for a long time, its crystal clear reflections displaying every one of the eye's minute features.

She shakes her head after a long, silent moment and steps away. Curiosity breathes in her ear once more, and she decides to try something else. Slowly, she peeps one of her eyes open, waiting as her vision fades in and out of focus. Her brain attempts to adjust to the two completely different types of sight, trying to balance the two into something it can process. It physically hurts Haruna, who grunts from the exertion, but fights to keep that eye open.

Eventually, everything comes into focus again, bit by bit. The once-blurred fringes of her vision are instead tainted red, and everything in between is sharp and clear. Perhaps not as focused as before, but she can still see so much. She waits a moment or two before opening the other eye, and groans as the process repeats itself. This time, the pain is a bit sharper as she adds a third sight, but she soldiers through, and it pays off in the end. The reddened edges become deeper; her sharper vision grows clearer. Standing still for a few more moments, she shifts her eyes around, testing them out once more. She learns rather quickly that she still cannot purposely focus on the objects in her peripherals, as it causes her eyes to burn. But overall, she can tell that her vision has increased in quality.

"Well...that's...cool," she says to herself. "Now what?"

It is at that very moment that she senses something within her activate. As if a switch has been suddenly flipped on, she notices that she can feel an essence. Coming from somewhere is a faint warmth; a life. She whirls around and feels herself drawn to it, so she curiously steps in its direction. It leads her out of the bedroom and out into the opening of the cave. She brushes her bangs to the side with her fingers, effectively uncovering the strange eye, and allowing for her hand to finally fall to her side and rest. It had been cramping after so long of holding her hair up.

Following the warmth, she heads down another hallway--one she has never been down. There are a few doors on either side; some are open, others are not. But the strange feeling in her chest brings her to the furthest door on the left, which is closed tightly. A sliver of light peeks through the bottom, and the curious girl bravely reaches out her hand and knocks on the door.

"What is it? Leave me alone!" comes Deidara's voice from the other side. _So, he'd been here the whole time...._

Haruna then realizes with a start what she had just done. Staring at the slivers of wood compressed and sealed on the door in front of her, she slowly understands that she has just sensed another person's chakra. Followed it, and found them. _She has just tracked someone using their chakra._

A proud smile blooms on her face at that moment, for she has achieved something she has not been able to for half a decade. She is confused by this new gain--this new power she now wields, for no apparent reason. Perhaps all this time, she has carried a secret weapon within her that laid dormant? And perhaps with the sudden rush of emotion she had just felt earlier, it caused it to awaken?

Haruna's mind reels as all these crazy ideas are born: _What if this is my Sharingan? What if it's different because I'm half Hyuga? Has my power finally awakened? Has my true potential finally been unlocked?_

Another thought slowly creeps into her mind: _What if I can finally attain revenge?_

A reflexive thought, that one. She'd momentarily forgotten her earlier revelation and her consequential lack of a need for revenge...she stops herself as all this returns to her.

But then it reminds her of the matter at hand: Itachi.

Itachi! How could she have forgotten? She'd been so distracted by this strange, new eye she'd just randomly attained...the brand new vision, and her new and ever-awaited ability. Completely overlooking the fact that she had even bothered Deidara, she spins on her heel and rushes down the hall once more. _I have to find him. If I can track his chakra, maybe I can save him before it's too late...._

She stops in the very center of the cave, straightening her shoulders and focusing. She notices the small warmth of Deidara's chakra in the corner of her senses and latches onto the sensation of her very self being pulled towards it. Then, remembering Orochimaru's past words when training her, she slowly expands her range of search. She feels Deidara's essence growing smaller, but never disappearing as more small glows enter her senses. She cannot identify them, however, and frowns as she suddenly remembers that she does not know how Itachi's chakra even feels. The circumference of her sense slowly shrinks. What is she to do?

"Ugh, think, Haruna--you useless idiot!" she growls. She tries in vain to recall the sense of Itachi's essence, and sighs quietly. She hadn't even been able to determine whose chakra she'd felt at first until she'd been lead to Deidara--so how is she to find Itachi's now, and from so far away?

The power she'd at first thought would be a turning point for her, becomes useless to her instead. Her shoulders droop as despair weighs heavy upon them. Still pathetic. Still good for nothing.

Despite all that, one more ray of hope shines through it all. Perhaps she can use her _Byakugan_ and find him, if he just so happens to be nearby. Unaware of where exactly he is, she decides to give it a try. She activates it, and instantly regrets it.

The normal grayed vision she had grown used to that comes with using a _Byakugan_ is now blood red and pulsing furiously. She can see every single detail on every single object around her, in a 365 degree circle. Her senses, and brain, are immediately overloaded by the sheer amount of input and information that has suddenly been sent, and Haruna literally collapses under the weight of it all, the ocular jutsu rapidly fading. She breaks into a sweat, little droplets sliding down her forehead and temples, and her heart rate steadily climbs as she attempts to recover. For a moment, she had felt as though her brain might have literally combusted.

"Oh, God," Haruna pants, closing her eyes. It's too much. Will she ever be able to use her eyes again?

A determined look crosses over her face and she opens her eyes once more. Her head throbs as her brain once again adjusts to the triple vision, though it takes a slightly shorter amount of time. _I have to find him. This has to work. I have to do this._

So she takes a breath and remains sitting, activating her Hyuga Eyes once more. They immediately begin to squeeze and pulse, and her head screams in agony as her poor brain works twice as hard as it's used to to process the information. Still, Haruna presses on, even as pained whimpers leave her and she begins to shake. She notices as time goes on that the pain dulls, and that her range of vision has nearly tripled...no--more than that. As her vision comes back into focus, she realizes she can see _four times_ farther than ever before. She can see the forest's great expanse and beyond. Behind her, she can see the ocean and its endless boundary that kisses the sky at its furthest point. On either side, she takes in the sights of two small villages just at the edges of the forest.

And eleven miles to the northwest, off in some far corner of the woods, she finds a large temple made of stone. Focusing on it, she stretches her vision until she sees clearly inside of it. Two men stand far apart from each other, and one hangs partially inside the wall, looking on from high above. Haruna belatedly realizes who they are. 

"Sasuke...and Itachi?!" she squeaks. 

She looks on as the two brothers stand dead still for a moment, regarding each other. Then, in a flash, Itachi crouches down and signs something with rapid motions. But Sasuke is onto him, summoning what looks to be a massive shuriken. He reels back and tosses it at Itachi, and it spins deadly fast towards the elder. Itachi notices and has to duck even further to dodge it...however, within a moment, another shuriken appears from below in the first one's shadow, floating only inches from the ground and heading straight for Itachi's feet. Thinking quickly, the older brother leaps and leans onto his side, attempting to jump between the two massive, rotating weapons and avoid damage. He almost makes it--but Sasuke has other plans, as he had already sent forth a burst of lightning to distract his brother as he controlled the shuriken with tiny strings. As Itachi leaps to safety, Sasuke tugs at the strings, causing the shuriken to crack into pieces. One of the shards dives straight into Itachi's leg, stabbing deeply into the flesh. Itachi flops to the ground an instant later. Haruna catches a glimpse of the smirk on Sasuke's face. 

"Itachi...how did you miss something like that...?" Haruna asks sadly, her fists unconsciously tight as she watches the scene unfold from afar. A faint memory of Tobi's words slips through her mind, coming and going almost faster than she can process. _He will soon succumb to his illness...and his pathetic love._  Something close to that, at least...Haruna tilts her head slightly as she recalls this and begins to wonder if Itachi has fallen ill. _But if that's the case, why would he choose now to fight Sasuke?  If he really is sick, there might be a chance that he will lose...._

She sees Itachi slowly push himself up to his knees and scoot to the side a bit. He reaches back and gingerly extracts the blade from his thigh, tossing it aside. The sight causes Haruna to shiver. The two exchange more words, and then Itachi clutches his eye as Sasuke says something else to him. Haruna's heart clenches, worry filtering through her. _Please be okay, Itachi...._

Just then, Sasuke leans down and weaves signs for Fireball Jutsu--Haruna can recognize them even from her great distance--and he expels a massive burst of flames from his chest. Itachi seems to waver, but leaps out of the way at the last second. But Sasuke is one step ahead of him, up in the air as well and casting a Lightning Jutsu, which he aims straight at his brother. 

Haruna jumps as she watches the roof of the building explode, and both men leap from the billowing smoke and flying stone debris. That's her limit. She shakes her head and decides right then and there that she is going to them to end this ridiculous fight. It's all for nothing, now. Why is Itachi even bothering? 

Focusing on each of their chakra signatures, she memorizes their color and the imprint they leave upon her senses--particularly Itachi's. She figures perhaps this will help her track him, and deactivates her _Byakugan._

The entire time she had been watching, she'd kept Tobi's final words to her in the back of her mind. All the while she had been attempting to come up with a way of getting out of the cave, but nothing had come to her. The only thing she can think of now as she slowly gets to her feet, is to see what this new eye is capable of--so that's just what she does. She closes her eyes, allowing for the red one to work on its own, and focuses long and hard on the feeling of Itachi's chakra, which she had memorized. It's gentle and bright, and Haruna sees it as a soft green color in her mind's eye. She then attempts to track him once more, expanding her range to the furthest reaches. Many, many chakra signatures enter her sense, but she focuses on finding the soft emerald glow she's looking for. Eventually, she finds it--and her heart drops as she feels it nearly fade away. Itachi, she can sense, is close to death.

Her sense of urgency grows as she struggles to come up with any solution for her predicament. She wishes desperately to go to him--wishes for a miracle to happen; even if a portal were to just open up somewhere for her to go through.

Surprisingly, that's exactly what happens.

Through her third eye, she sees time and space being gently pried open square by square, until an opening large enough for her to step through has appeared. Mysterious inky blackness is all she can see on the other side as she snaps her eyes open and stares at it in shock. She had not expected it to actually happen--she begins to wonder just what all this eye is capable of. But, now is not the time for distractions. She feels a bit nervous at first as she gazes into the endless abyss leading to seemingly nowhere, but that all disappears when she realizes how strongly she senses Itachi's presence, the longer she stares into it. It has to lead to him; it just has to.

So, Haruna steps into the portal, hoping and praying it will bring her to where she needs to be.

\---

"It's...done...," Sasuke breathes as he collapses to the ground, his Sharingan fading. His breaths are shaky and faint, but his heart is pounding wildly within its cage as he revels in his newfound revenge. "It's finally over...!" He can't believe it yet. He is still unable to fully comprehend the fact that Itachi had actually been killed, _by him._ It's too good to be true. He glances at the limp and lifeless body of his older brother just to make sure he isn't dreaming...a wicked smile creeps across his lips as he takes in the sight. Finally. _Finally_.

But his moment of glory is short-lived as a strange portal opens up right beside him. It's blocky and organized, though it opens diagonally, and seems to have no beginning point. It looks empty and void on the other side. Sasuke stares at it apprehensively as he attempts to catch his breath, and looks on in horror--which quickly turns into rage--as none other than _Haruna_ steps out of said portal.

"You!" he screams at her, strangely having found his voice, despite being so tired. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Haruna lands upon the ground and notices what had once been a temple is now an endless sea of ground up rubble and ash...like there had been a powerful explosion at one point. The girl frowns and opens her mouth to ponder the sight aloud, when a painstakingly familiar voice rings through her ears, causing her to jump. She snaps her gaze to the left of her and sees Sasuke sitting there on his knees, staringly wildly up at her. She immediately notices his chakra level, which is pretty much at zero.

He does a double take when he notices the giant eye upon her forehead. His own orbs grow wide as he tries to make sense of it, alarms going off in his head. It looks wrong--evil. What the hell is Haruna doing with it?!

"What is that?" Sasuke cries at her before she even has time to reply to his earlier questions.

Haruna glowers at him all the while. "Where is Itachi?" she demands, rather than answering him properly.

"I said, what the hell are you doing here?!" Sasuke repeats himself through gritted teeth, his voice raising in warning.

"And I said, where the hell is Itachi!" Haruna replies in a rather snarky tone. "Did you kill him?! Please tell me you didn't!"

Sasuke narrows his eyes at her. "What are you talking about?!" he practically shrieks.

Haruna can tell that his nerves have been fried and that he has no control over his emotions right now. It reminds her of the day when he'd yelled at her and called her pathetic. It sends a flicker of rage through her.

But neither have a chance to say anything more as an all-too familiar voice pipes up, weak and raspy.

"Haruna...you came, too...."

Sasuke visibly flinches and snaps his head up, staring straight in front of him in horror as he watches his previously dead brother slowly push himself onto his knees.

Haruna slowly looks in Itachi's direction and takes note of his condition. She nearly breaks into tears when she sees his rugged form, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. His eyes are hardly open, and obviously swollen from exertion. His usually neatly combed hair is in disarray; little strands flying everywhere, his ponytail loose and near falling out of its tie. _Sasuke's beaten him that badly? s_ he wonders. _How can that be?_

From beside her, she can hear Sasuke grit his teeth and let out an angry growl. She glances at him, watching as his curse mark glows and pours its volatile chakra into Sasuke's, changing him form drastically. She looks on as he morphs easily into Second State and shakes her head. _It's amazing how strong he has become...._

"Damn you!" the younger brother screams at the eldest, hatred ringing clear in his voice. Haruna quivers slightly.

She turns back to Itachi, her crystal-sharp vision focusing on him. He's staring at her with the most transparent expression she has ever seen him wear: horror. She realizes with a start that he must have no idea what her third eye is or where it came from. But that is the least of her worries.

 _Something must be wrong,_ she infers as she activates her _Byakugan_ and searches Itachi. She fights off the dizziness and stabbing pain that comes from using both at the same time as she focuses in on Itachi.

"Why...why have you come?" Itachi asks her, weak and coughing.

It's then that Haruna notices it: a bright orange blob inside his left lung. Spreading its roots and growing everywhere it can. A tumor. The sight horrifies her and she immediately turns off her ocular jutsu and lets out a whine. She focuses on Itachi's face once more.

 _I have to get him home--and fast. If that really is a tumor...._ Haruna tries desperately to recall something of Kabuto's teachings. _Well--if he's coughing up blood, that's always a bad sign. I have to get that tumor out before it's too late._ Haruna frowns deeply. _It might already be._...

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke cuts in, answering for Haruna. "She shouldn't be. Haruna, this isn't your fight! You need to leave!" His tone is biting and terse. She can easily tell just how agitated and angry he is.

She cuts her eyes to him and says, "No. I'm not leaving without him. I'm here to stop you two from killing each other. I'm here to bring Itachi home and take care of him. It would seem he is very ill." She stares at the eldest once more, in a most pointed manner. He's staring at her in silence.

"You _what?!_ " Sasuke shrieks, his blood boiling with rage. "How dare you! This...this is my revenge! _How dare you take it away from me?!_ " His voice rumbles and carries across the expanse, echoing under the darkened sky. He leaps to his feet and rushes at her to attack, but Haruna is quick. She can read his every move.

She also has much more chakra than him at the moment.

She side-steps his attack and merely sticks out her foot, causing him to trip and fall onto his face with a thud. Gazing down at him disdainfully, she can tell through her enhanced vision just how weakened he is. He doesn't stand a chance against her in his current state. That knowledge brings her a surge of pride, but she quickly remembers why she is there and who she has to bring back with her, so she shakes it away and instead rushes to Itachi's side.

"Come on," she says to him quietly, slipping her hand under his arm and lifting him. He stares at her with slightly wide eyes all the while as he slowly gets up. When he's finally on his feet, he takes in a trembling breath, leaning into her a little.

"Why are you...here," he chokes out. "I still...have to fight...."

Haruna simply shakes her head and holds out her free hand to the space in front of her.

"I know the truth, Itachi," she murmurs to him. "You don't have to pretend anymore."

His face drops in shock and dismay. "...I-I see," is all he says, after several beats of silence.

Haruna closes her eyes and allows for her third eye to work its magic again as she thinks hard about opening a portal leading back to the Akatsuki Hideout. More specifically, her bedroom.

Meanwhile, Sasuke has slowly risen to his feet, glaring spitefully at the two as a portal just like the one before opens up in front of Haruna.

"You," he snarls at her, reaching into his weapons pack out of desperation. He tosses several kunai at her; all of which miss as Haruna suddenly has a knife of her own, blocking each one as it comes her way. Her reflexes are sharp like her vision; they never miss a thing.

Sasuke screams and lunges at her, ready to tear out her throat.

Itachi gets one last look at him, knowing he will soon perish. His eyes slowly darken for good as he murmurs to the screaming boy, "I'm sorry, Sasuke. This is the last time...."

Haruna eyes the boy running at her as she steps into the portal, blood dripping from the red eye as it slowly closes and she steps back into the hideout. _I hope he dies out there, alone,_ is her last thought as he disappears from her view.

Sasuke had not heard what Itachi had said. He rolled into an overturned piece of stone from the exploded building as he'd attempted and failed to land an attack on Haruna. After a moment he lets out a furious roar and punches the rock below him, crying out as his knuckles crack and break. " _You bastard! You awful little wench!"_ He yells out. " _I told you I'll kill you if you get in my way! You'd better watch your back, because I am going to end you!"_

_\--_

Poking from the ground some distance away like a sprouting tree is Zetsu, the Aloe Vera-looking man. He had watched the entire fight unfold from start to finish, including Haruna's spontaneous arrival and Itachi's extraction, and the Black Side had definitely been surprised by the latest events. Watching carefully and chuckling every so often, he is utterly delighted to see that Tobi's experiment hadn't failed, at all. It is a nice surprise for him. For at last, he can now put his initial plan into action.


	18. 予想外の生存 (Unexpected Survival)

The portal seals behind the two as they step out into the girl’s bedroom. Along with the portal, the third eye which Haruna had only just received seals itself as well. It gradually fades until nothing is left but a stream of blood and searing agony as her brain once more needs to readjust. The girl crumbles to her knees, grunting and moaning, clutching her temples as they throb. The blood runs down the side of her nose, across her lips to her chin, where it drips onto the floor, mixing with her tears. The older boy stands above her quietly, darkness enshrouding him.

The pain slowly subsides, but Haruna is then shocked out of her reverie by the sudden, harsh coughs of Itachi. She bolts up to her feet and watches--albeit rather blurrily--as Itachi, too, sinks to the ground, coughing and hacking violently. A pained whimper leaves him and he grabs at his chest, clearly in agony. Haruna feels for him, a worried frown weighing heavily upon her face. Her vision has not yet cleared, but still she reaches down for him after he has calmed and lifts him gingerly to his feet.

“Come on, Itachi,” she murmurs to him, leading him towards the bed and helping him lie down. “It’s going to be alright.”

A shaky, rattled breath leaves the older male as he is carefully brought to the bed and lays down upon it. His tired, aching body practically melts as it relaxes, but the sharpness in his chest never leaves. He can feel himself fading; his breathing growing raspier and more constricted by the second. It’s only a matter of time before his left lung collapses, and he dies. He knows this well. HIs eyes have already failed him; it’s just a guessing game now of what will next. He looks in the girl’s general direction and mumbles something to her. “Y-you...don’t have to do this. It’s already too late...Haruna.”

Haruna simply shakes her head and turns in a restless circle, realizing all at once that she has none of the supplies she needs. Her eyes are throbbing in their sockets, pounding against her skull, and the pain only worsens as she tries to come up with a solution for her predicament. She needs water and cloths for him, she needs gloves--she needs to wash her hands. But she knows as she stares long and hard at the wheezing, dying man on her bed, that if she leaves now to get any of those things, he will surely die before she can return with any of them.

“Hush,” she murmurs to him belatedly, stepping over to him once more. She leans over and feels his forehead with her arm. It’s a little warmer than normal. She takes her two fingers and presses them gently onto the side of his neck, feeling for his pulse. It’s racing. She frowns sorely. She has no other choice but to attempt to destroy the tumor right now, before it’s too late. And if she waits a second longer, it will be.

“H-haruna--”

Itachi tries to object, but Haruna presses her fingers to his lips and gets straight to work, all the while, trying to force herself to remember the things Kabuto had taught her. Her mind works fast and hard as her hands tear apart Itachi’s shirt, her vision slowly clearing up again. Kabuto’s snide voice echoes in her mind, causing her to grimace.

_The chakra must be concise and exact. It can’t whirl around wildly like a ninjutsu, it must be contained in a small sphere to allow for the most concentration possible. It’s more effective that way. That, and if you were to just haphazardly throw chakra into someone, it could damage something important._

Grateful for the advice (though it pains her to have to even think about Kabuto again), she keeps those words in mind as she continues. Speaking of chakra, she can tell that she had used a considerable amount of it with those portals--a twinge of fury ignites within her as she remembers that her special power has once again disappeared. But she shakes it away and immediately returns to the problem at hand. Her chakra is quite low, lower than she’s ever felt it; at least she thinks so. But now is not the time to conserve chakra, she decides as she activates her  _Byakugan_ , boring her gaze into the left side of his chest. She cannot see half as clearly into Itachi as she had been able to previously, and can hardly find the location of the tumor. But thinking back to its chakra imprint which she had earlier memorized, she can find it still within him now. After a moment, she does. The bright spot she’d noticed before is more of a faint glow instead, but she can still see it pulsing, glowing--gnawing away at the lining of his lung, which is--as she sees it--thinning considerably. _Not a good sign._

“Alright, Itachi,” she says as she sprints around the end of the bed to the other side, allowing the lung to be easily accessed as she is now standing beside it. “This might hurt a little.” She has no idea whether it will or not, but there is no time left to weigh any other options. It has to be done  _now._

 _Time to be useful, Haruna._  Taking a breath, she holds her hands above the tumor, focusing her chakra the best she can, and applying it to the invading mound. Perhaps, she thinks, if she applies enough concentrated chakra, it might be enough to take it apart. She knows she can’t safely remove it--she doesn’t have the proper tools, or skill, to execute something as dangerous as a lung surgery. That, and the thought of cutting someone open and digging into their flesh...Haruna shivers and makes a disgusted groan. No. Not happening.

So, she sets to work, and finds out rather quickly that her skills are very rusty. The chakra she forms doesn’t stay contained quite enough, flying about and hitting other parts of his chest. She gasps and focuses harder, imagining herself reining it back in with a rope and holding it in place where it belongs. Then, she slowly seeps it into his infected lung. She can physically feel the chakra react with the tumor, and watches sharply with her  _Byakguan_  as it slowly eats away at it. The sensation is a bit jarring, and she has to re-focus her chakra before she can continue any further. Once it’s back in place, she works hard on the tumor. Her wobbly chakra works steadily, on a molecular level, and breaks down every cancerous cell it comes into contact with, destroying the entire thing bit by bit. Haruna’s head begins to throb once more; the amount of concentration needed for a procedure like this is more than she can realistically contribute. But that doesn’t stop her. Itachi’s very life depends on her every move now. In spite of not having any idea of what she is doing (or at least that’s how she feels), she presses on desperately. She doesn’t want him to die. He can’t die. Even though merely a day ago it was all she had wanted, it now seems like the worst possible thing.

Itachi grunts and whimpers underneath her, breaking out into a profuse sweat. He writhes a little, the sensation becoming rather uncomfortable, even for him. It wears on him, and he begins to panic. He wishes he could move, or somehow get out of his current position--but more than that, he had been so ready to die. He can’t let Haruna save him now. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He had been destined to perish by either his disease or Sasuke’s hand....but his brain is fogged and heavy, and so he is unable to do anything to stop her. He feels his body begin to heat up, sweat dripping down his face, neck, and arms...he slowly fades away, and vaguely hopes he will never return.

Haruna presses on ever diligently, a small smile crossing over her face as she watches the tumor slowly disintegrate. The orange glow gradually fades until there is nothing left but the tiniest speck. Haruna focuses all she can on it, but it just doesn’t seem to want to leave. She, herself, has begun to sweat from the exertion, and feels herself slowly draining. She’s exhausted, but keeps going. For now, she decides, the small speck won’t hurt him, and he can be taken to an actual doctor later for proper treatment.

Now that the tumor is basically gone, Haruna raises her hands slightly to expand the range of healing to the entire lung. She gently repairs it, attempting to reverse the damage done by the volatile growth. This takes almost more precision that before, leaving her grunting and wheezing as she struggles to keep her chakra together, and control it. Her body trembles as she literally pushes the remaining chakra from her--whatever little there is--and does her best to stay awake in spite of her utter exhaustion.

Finally, after a few minutes, the lung is mostly repaired; enough that Itachi will survive on his own. The lung will not collapse. Haruna does, however, her head resting upon the bed beside Itachi’s still, quiet body. She falls asleep instantly, her own body needing to recover.

\----------------

_“Itachi, you had better be at that meeting tonight.” Fugaku’s strong, commanding voice rang through the house as Itachi stood by the front door, about to leave. His father’s words gave him pause, as he knew he would not be able to make it. He had other engagements elsewhere, and could not get out of them._

_They were of great importance._

_Saying nothing, Itachi slid the door open and took a step across it. It would be the last time he crossed the threshold as a member of this family._

_“Itachi, I mean it!” his father bellowed. Itachi froze once more, a clinch in his heart. A shaky breath, and he continued on regardless. Not a word was said._

_Down the streets he roamed, silent and watchful. He observed his fellow clan members as they went about their daily lives, bustling about with their groceries and children, calling to each other across the way and catching up. He eyed every single one, sincerely wishing they had a wonderful day. It would most likely be their very last._

_Just as he was about to leave the compound, he heard the pitter patter of tiny footsteps rushing up behind him. He stopped, and waited for whomever it was to approach him. He’d hoped there would be no interaction as he left. It would only serve to make things more difficult for him now. But he had no choice as the footsteps morphed into two, and two small bodies clashed with his, accompanied by small voices yelling his name as they clung to him. He shut his eyes tightly._

_“Itachi! We found you!” Itachi could recognize his little brother’s voice anywhere._

_“Yeah~and now you have to find us!” the little girl who’d captured his heart had also tagged along. He felt his chest start to tighten, regret and fear pulsing through him. He couldn’t do this. Not to her. Not to him. His eyes began to sting, and he opened them slowly._

_“No--I’m sorry, you two, but I’m a bit busy at the moment,” he said, fighting hard to maintain the gentle tone he always used with them, no matter the circumstance. He gently peeled them off of him one by one and set them down beside him. “I really have to go. I-I’m sorry.” Without even another glance in their direction, he took off running. He ran as fast as he possibly could from them._

_“Oh,” Itachi heard Sasuke whimper, and his heart broke. He’d let his precious little brother down once again._

_“What about after you’re busy?!” Haruna cried after him, tears in her voice. A tear of Itachi’s own slid down his cheek._

_No. I’m sorry. There won’t be a next time._

_There was a sense of urgency that clung to him now. He leapt into the tall trees and onto the roofs of buildings, purposely avoiding anymore contact. He just couldn’t handle it. He trembled even as he ran, fervently fighting everything within him that told him not to do this. He simply had to; it was for the sake of peace. Loyalty to his clan hardly mattered anymore; not when the lives of so many others were at stake. Not when the life of his brother was at stake…._

_He’d been given a threat--a terrible one. A choice to make. One that, in any other case, should not have been placed upon a fourteen-year-old child. But Itachi was not a child. He’d almost never felt like one. He’d always shouldered much responsibility, and he was used to it by now. So when he was given a choice between ending the threat himself and sparing his brother, and standing with his clan and consequently being wiped out by the village, the answer was nearly instinctual. He’d always wanted peace between his village and his clan; he loved them both so dearly. But even at such a young age, he was able to see the bigger picture. The clan wanted something the village did not. The village was mostly unwilling to try and make peace with the clan, something the clan hated very much. They felt misunderstood, and the village felt threatened. Itachi could see it clearly. If the clan were to have their way, most of the villagers would lose their lives. But if the clan were to be silenced...it would spare so many. It would spare his brother. How was Itachi to argue with that?_

_The sun began to set upon the Village Hidden in the Leaves, painting the sky with its glowing orange and pink rays. Itachi had nearly made it out of the village, and knew that he had little time left before he would be penalized for leaving. The curfew had always been there, ever since the Nine Tails’ attack, so Itachi knew it well. But this time, he was going to break the rules a little. It was all for the sake of peace; for the sake of his little brother. He reminded himself of this as he leapt silently over the great village wall and into the forest beyond._

_The journey was not long, but it felt like decades to Itachi. His heart weighed heavy in his chest as the moon rose in the sky, lighting his way. Tonight was the night. He’d already had his share of crying and agonizing over the pain he knew he would surely endure as he watched members of his clan die. Now, it was time for action. He would call upon only one man to help him in his task, for he knew he could not in good conscience truly destroy every living person of the Uchiha. He knew this man was ruthless and had little care for the clan. Itachi would only do two things that night: he would personally see to his parents, and he would leave Sasuke with a goal. A goal to avenge the clan--because he only wanted Sasuke to think of the Uchiha as a good, proud, and strong clan. He wanted his younger brother to hate him and one day kill him, when the time was right. He thought it fitting that he be the one to do it, after tearing apart their family and leaving him with no one. He knew his brother would be able to handle it well. Or, at least, he truly hoped he would._

_Regardless, that left him with two more people to worry about. Two people that, while special to him, were not quite as important to him as his brother. But he still could not bring himself to kill them. He thought of Natsumi, who was the kindest woman Itachi knew, aside from his own mother. She was alone in her tiny house, working hard for herself and her little daughter. Because she was not a Shinboi, but merely an ordinary villager, she had no hand in the clan’s decisions. She probably had no idea at all. How, then, could Itachi justify killing her? Perhaps he could by lumping her in with the rest of the innocent clan members he was about to murder. Try as he might, however, he simply could not. Natsumi had given so much of herself--everything--to provide for herself and her daughter. How could he nullify her entire existence up to this point by killing her now?_

_But he was doing just the same with the rest. There was no reason not to. He would just have to accept that he would be losing her, too. Another tear slid down his cheek. It was cruel, but Itachi knew what needed to be done. He would do it. He would kill her._

_‘What about after you’re busy?!’ Haruna’s words echo in his mind, causing him to sob once as he leapt from branch to branch through the deep forest. How could he forget about Haruna? She was only half Uchiha, and like her mother, knew nothing of the clan’s plotting. She was so small and innocent, so caring and gentle. Her smile never failed to warm Itachi’s heart each time he beheld it. If he was honest with himself, she had become much like a little sister to him. He cared deeply for her, and longed to watch her grow and see what she would become. If he were to kill her now, none of that would come to pass. She would die at six years of age, with nothing to show for her life. The thought made Itachi choke up, his eyes welling with tears._

_Stop this. You’ve had your chance to cry. Now you must only think rationally._

_He swallowed back his tears and wiped his face clean. He was nearing his destination now, and had one more choice to make before then. He remembered that the clan had been keeping a close eye on Haruna, barely even regarding her as one of their own. To begin with, she bore the Hyuga eyes, which the Uchiha Clan members saw as an insult, especially because her mother had brought her into the Uchiha compound to live as one of their own. They’d often wondered why she didn’t just live with the Hyuga, because to them, she seemed more Hyuga than anything else. Itachi also knew that the Hyuga had rejected her from birth because of her Uchiha blood, and sent her father to die for marrying an Uchiha. His clan was watching the girl like a hawk because of the strange slit on her forehead. Itachi knew it was an eye. The clan leaders suspected something similar. They all agreed that if it ever opened, she was to be immediately executed. Haruna seemed to have a dark fate, no matter how it was sliced._

_Now, Itachi pondered his options. He could have her killed, and she wouldn’t have to live in constant fear. Neither would her mother. He could spare just Haruna as well as Sasuke, and have them both foster their hatred for him so they could take him on together. Or, he could spare Haruna and her mother and order them to leave at once if they wanted to live._

_The first choice would be follow Danzo’s very specific instructions. It would not jeopardize Sasuke’s life in any way. The second choice would, and would be disobedient of Danzo’s orders. Not only that, but Itachi simply felt that it was Sasuke’s job alone to take him down. Haruna didn’t deserve such a burden; nor did she deserve the honor. It was different between him and Sasuke...more personal. The third choice was simple and felt like the easiest. That way, Haruna and her mother could peacefully live somewhere new, where they weren’t being talked about, or threatened, or possibly wanted dead. And Itachi wouldn’t have to live with himself knowing that he’d spared his little brother, but not his little sister._

_Yes, the third choice seemed good. Itachi decided then, as she came across a clearing and landed on the soft grass below. It was on a hill hugged by trees on one side, and clear and open on the other. The sky was pitch black and dotted with the tiniest white specks in the distance. The moon hid behind a cloud, darkening the surrounding area and casting the strangest shadows upon the ground. Itachi slowed his pace to a walk as he approached the small house atop the hill. Knowing who was inside, he proceeded with caution._

_He’d barely reached the doorstep when the door was flung open. Long, wild hair cascaded down broad shoulders, framing an orange-mask clad face. The figure was dressed in all black, seeming to be in more comfortable attire. He leaned against the doorframe after a moment or two of staring, and from behind the mask came a melodious, deep voice._

_“Ah...an Uchiha….”_

_“You,” Itachi regarded him warily, but showed no sign of nervousness. “I need your help.”_

_“Oh?” the masked man chuckled. It was colorful and dark. “You need...my help?”_

_Itachi nodded. “I’ve noticed you sneaking in and out of the village undetected. Several times, you’ve made it in without being seen. Except, of course, by me.”_

_“Hmm,” grunted the man, nodding his head. “How interesting. So you’ve noticed me, have you?”_

_“I’ve come to offer you a deal,” Itachi continued, getting straight to the point. “I know who you are. And I know of your history with the Uchiha. There’s...a bit of animosity there, is there not?”_

_The masked man tilts his head a little, intrigued. “You know who I am, hmm?”_

_“You’re Madara Uchiha,” replied Itachi, without missing a beat._

_“Hm,” grunted the other, a deep chuckle erupting from his chest. “Indeed.”_

_“I’m sure you have much against the clan, especially for throwing you out as they did. Tonight, I have been ordered to slaughter them all for plotting against the Leaf.”_

_“Plotting against the Leaf, are they?” Madara asks after a pause, clearly amused._

_“Yes. I would like your help in this task, as the clan is quite powerful and I’m not sure I can carry it out all on my own. But you, the fabled prodigy of our clan--who can somehow break through the Village’s nearly impenetrable defense system, on multiple occasions--will certainly have no problem taking them out.”_

_“Hmm,” Madara holds his chin with his finger and thumb, considering. “I wonder...what is a child like you doing slaughtering your entire clan? And what is it you want from me, that you are offering me something so enticing as destroying the Uchiha, whom I have hated passionately all these years?”_

_Ignoring the first question, Itachi once again stayed on point. “I have three conditions.”_

_“Three,” Madara repeats in amusement._

_“One--Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha are off limits. I will take care of them, myself.” Itachi held up one finger, and then another as he described his second request. “Two--Haruna and Natsumi Uchiha are to be forewarned and ordered to leave their home and the village before any of the killing commences. And three,” Itachi finished, showing the third finger, “You are to leave Sasuke Uchiha. Absolutely no harm will come to him, under any circumstances.”_

_“So,” says Madara, chuckling still, “you’re saying you want me to destroy every living person in the clan...except for two small children and a young woman? Hm, how pathetic. That seems to go against the purpose of wiping out an entire clan, don’t you think?”_

_“Those are my conditions,” replied Itachi unwaveringly. “Either follow them, or consider the deal nullified.” His eyes then narrowed. “And how did you know who they were?”_

_“Foolish child,” Madara chortled, shaking his head. “I’ve been in the village longer than you think. I know what goes on. I know who they are. And not to worry, I will follow through as you have asked.” He straightened and held his arms at his sides. “Shall we be off, then?”_

\-------

A loud, sudden gasp leaves the male as he shoots up in his place, panting heavily as if he had been running. Sweat drips down his temples, his darkened eyes wide open as he tries to catch his breath. He sees nothing before him, as expected. And after a moment, he comes to realize that his chest is no longer in any sort of pain. He can breathe. His breathing is fast and short, but in no way is constricted or disrupted...he clutches the side of his chest that had been plagued for so long--and nothing happens. He feels almost...healthy. Now that the major pain of cancer has subsided, he can finally feel the rest of his aches and pains, the scars and wounds he’d gained from his battle with Sasuke. His leg in particular is throbbing relentlessly. His arms and knees had been scraped up, and perhaps a bit burned from all the fire they’d been using. But most of all, he is tired. Slowly, he falls back onto his pillow, sighing softly. His hand flops back onto the mattress as well, only to land atop someone’s head. Itachi jumps. The hair feels matted and coarse, as if it hadn’t been washed or brushed in a long time. He stills himself and listens for breathing, and comes to recognize it...it’s Haruna’s.

So, she really had healed him, after all. He’s better; he’s going to live. But he will never see the light of day again. It’s a cold, depressing thought. Itachi softly pats Haruna’s head regardless, wondering how she could so quickly change her mind about him. Her actions, her attitude had done a complete 180 since last they had met. Perhaps it’s because she knows the truth now...another thought that weighs heavily upon Itachi. He’d never wanted anyone to know. It’s not their burden to bear; only his alone. But, there is nothing he can do about it now. Another sigh leaves him as he closes his eyes, still weirded out when there is no change in his vision. It’s still just as dark and empty as it had been.

Why he’d had a dream of the past, he has no idea. He hopes it doesn’t happen again as he slowly drifts off, his fingers gently caressing the girl’s hair in a comforting manner. Haruna smiles in her sleep.


	19. 自己受諾 (Self-Acceptance)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [a/n: hate to break the 4th wall here with my blabbering but uhm...this chapter gets a little weird lol. she's fifteen, and she's got hormones...sooo...things get a bit personal. i did edit out the actual act, so it is merely alluded to, but i just thought i should warn y'all. and IF by any chance you want to read the whole unedited chapter, you can comment down below. if i get enough comments, i might just think about posting the uncensored version ;D the same applies to the next chapter, as well! and also, thank you for reading it this far if you have~]

 

The night passes quickly, and a dreamless sleep overcomes Haruna. It feels like an instant, but she wakes up feeling moderately rested. Following the slow wake up process, however, comes the feeling of grime and sweat absolutely drenching her body. She feels greasy and slimy, a feeling she simply cannot stand. A groan of disgust leaves her as she slowly gets up from her place on the floor. She had apparently slid down in her sleep as she had found herself flat on the floor upon awakening, but it didn’t bother her too much. Getting to her feet, she stares down at the sleeping Itachi. A small smile crosses over her face as she watches him rest, knowing he’s going to be alright. It brings her so much comfort, though that thought weirds her out a little still. How strange it is that just the other day, she’d hated him with every fiber, and wanted nothing more than for him to be dead? A sigh passes her lips and she shakes her head, pushing that away. It matters no longer, she decides, patting his arm comfortingly before passing by his bed and leaving the room.

Making her way to bathroom, which she had become very acquainted with when she had gotten sick from not eating, she starts to make a plan. Normally, she was fine with getting back into her clothes after showering, but these ones were much too dirty and disgusting to do so. She would need to find an alternative while she washed her clothes. So, peeking around in each of the rooms that surrounded the large center opening, she eventually comes across a room that resembles a walk-in closet. It’s full of hundreds of identical robes--every one black as night and dotted with the signature red clouds of the Akatsuki. Behind them are shelves upon shelves of sandals, in all sizes. Stepping into the den of clothing, she also notices a shelved corner stocked with towels and cloths. Perfect. She’d had literally no idea that they’d kept so many articles of clothing for themselves...but, she figures, they are humans, who also need to be kept clean in order to be healthy. So, perusing the large selection of robes, she finds one that looked like it would fit her and grabs it, hanger and all. She checks the racks of sandals, too, and selected a pair that look her size.

Waltzing over to the shelves of towels, she is about to grab one when she catches sight of a little shelf beside her, lined with what seem to be bottles of nail polish. She stares at them curiously, taking note of how oddly they’ve been organized. The color scheme does not seem to follow any sort of pattern: Burgundy, Orange, Magenta, Lavender, Dark Purple, Brown, Dark Green, Black, Turquoise, Navy, and Dark Pink. However, the Turquoise and Dark Pink colors had been knocked over, for some odd reason, leaving Haruna confused and even more interested. She recalls that all the members seem to have their nails painted; even Itachi. Perhaps it’s just…an Akatsuki thing. It’s strange to Haruna, but she remembers that she, too, is part of their organization now. If they can have their nails painted, why couldn’t she? So she decides to go through with it, and snatches up the dark pink bottle for herself. Grabbing a towel off the shelf, she then leaves the room, shutting off the light behind her.

The idea of finally being clean after so long fills her with excitement and relief. That, and the fact that she will be able to wear the proper clothing, and finally feel like a part of the group. She’d felt like such an outsider for so long, and it was not a pleasant feeling. But after having gotten out for a bit, Haruna’s desire to escape had been sated, and she is not in a rush to leave any longer. Besides--they feed her and provide her with a room of her own, and she’s far away from Sasuke and Orochimaru now. No one can find her or disturb her. All this leads her to decide, as she walks into the bathroom and flicks on the light, that she will officially consider herself part of the Akatsuki today. The group she’d once been skeptical of, and perhaps even hated for a short time, is now her home and where she belongs. She knows very little about them, but they’re a place to return to, and it’s more than Haruna has had in a long time.

Haruna shuts the door behind her and locks it, wary of the others in the cave. Though she’d accepted her fate, and them, she still values her privacy greatly. She sets everything out carefully and begins to strip down, peeling off the grimy articles of clothing that practically stick to her skin. It’s awful. She decides after a moment of pondering that she will wash her clothes before she washes herself; that way, she won’t have to touch the filthy clothing after getting herself clean. Nodding, she throws her old clothes, underwear and all, into the bathtub, and turns on the hot water, letting them soak for a moment or two. She stares at the steam as it rises, getting lost in her thoughts. Her memories of the events from yesterday...seeing Sasuke in such a state as he was...wild and delirious with rage, almost like an addict in desperate need for a fix. Screaming at her, which she had never in her fifteen years of life known Sasuke to do...and Itachi, who’d nearly died...who surely would have if not for her. She remembers the procedure she’d somehow managed to perform on him. She barely recalls it, in fact. It’s as if adrenaline and pure, unadulterated fear had taken over her then. But she’d done it, somehow, and Itachi was still alive. Breathing well, and resting. It brings her to such peace, in spite of everything else that is going on around her.

Snapping back into reality, she kneels down beside the tub and picks up her shirt, running it under the tap carefully so as not to come into contact with the steaming hot water. She watches as the dirt slides off the fabric, revealing a glowingly clean red underneath. It’s very satisfying for her to see. She plops the shirt back into the now-murky water and grabs the soap that is resting beside her. The side of the tub is cold against her bare skin, and causes her to let out a little yelp, followed by a soft laugh. She opens the bottle and flips it upside down, shaking it as the viscous, floral-scented liquid slowly comes oozing from the tip, landing on the clothes below. After a satisfying amount of soap has filled the tub, she turns the bottle upright once more and closes it, setting it aside. She reaches and turns the cold tap on, letting the water already in the tub cool down before she reaches in and swishes her clothes around in the soap. After a few minutes, they’re clean enough for her, and she runs them under the tap one by one until all the soap has been rinsed off. Finally, she wrings them each out and hangs them up on the towel rack, which is on the wall beside the tub. With her clothes clean and drying, she can finally clean herself.

Adjusting the water to her liking, she then pulls the lever, and the water ceases flowing from the tap, and instead comes gushing from the shower head above. Just the sound of it calms her. She tries to think back to the last time she’s had a shower, and sadly cannot bring to memory the last time she has. But she knows it’s been at least three weeks. Disgusting.

She pulls the curtain over the tub and pulls it open on the other side just enough for her to slip in, closing it behind her. Letting out a sigh, she turns and backs herself into the stream of warm water, and stands there for several minutes, just letting the water flow through her hair and down her back, dripping across her shoulders and down her arms and hands, sliding down her face and chest, over her small breasts and down her stomach. Several minutes pass before she even moves a muscle. All the while, she thinks and thinks. Not about anything in particular; just little things. The forest she’d been running in away from Sasuke, the first time she’d met Pein and Konan. The time she’d challenged Itachi to a fight but passed out instead. Then, her thoughts venture further into the past...back to when she’d first met Kabuto. When she’d led her friends into a place she shouldn’t have. When her bad choices had lead to their deaths. Yes, there is still a pain in her chest whenever they cross her mind, because she knows that she is to blame, and always will be. It hurts.

But, instead of crying about it like she normally would, she decides to be more grown up. She pushes it aside and contemplates her developing crush within the Akatsuki. The tall, blonde boy. The one with the enamoring, crystal-blue eyes and the cocky smile.  _Deidara._  She’d barely even spoken to him, but she cannot deny the little flutter in her chest every time she thinks about him or sees him. Earlier in her life, she knows she’d felt similar about only one person: Masaki. But this is much different than before. She doesn’t know anything at all about Deidara, except that he is extremely charming and very attractive to her, and the tight warmth in her chest--that dainty flutter--it’s stronger than it had ever been with Masaki. In fact, there’s almost something else along with it...something strange. Something...lower than her chest.

She reaches up and tries to smooth her hair in the water, but feels how matted it is and wrenches her hand away immediately. Horrible. That needs to be fixed. Searching around, she’s lucky enough to find a comb hanging in the shower. Pulling her incredibly long hair over her shoulder, she grabs the comb and sets to work on the many knots plaguing her hair. As she does so, she returns to her thoughts of Deidara.

She thinks back on the possibly three times she’s made contact with him, and tries to recount every detail. Every emotion that went through her. She hadn’t acknowledged it before, but thinking back on it now, she remembers another strange sensation that had come over her as she stared at him...specifically the first they’d met and he’d made eyes at her across the way. It was like...she wanted to...touch him. Somewhere. His arms, maybe? No...someplace else. Somewhere more intimate.

Haruna jumps in shock and shakes her head once, continuing on her hair. No. There’s no way. Is she already getting those kinds of feelings about someone? It’s impossible.

She recalls the awful time when she was twelve and had woken up to blood in her bed and in her pants. She’d thought she was dying. And as much as she’d hated Kabuto, he’d been the only one she could turn to, because she was well aware of his vast medical knowledge. Kabuto had been rather disgruntled and embarrassed, stuttering and clearing his throat many times as he sat her down and explained what a period is and why she was having it. She also recalled where that talk had led...to the rest of puberty. Kabuto had really not been pleased at the end of that talk.

But some things he’d said to her stick out to her now. Things about attraction, and feelings of sexual desire. It had been such an awkward topic for both of them, but as always, Haruna’s curiosity had outweighed all other emotions. She’d asked every question she could think of. And every one of them had received an answer, tentative and painful as it had been.

 _‘There will come a time when you see someone you like, and your body...responds in a different way. In a way that...might seem weird at first. You’ll feel like you want to touch them or have them touch you. It progresses over the years and goes further, but let’s not get into that…. U-uh. When these feelings happen, especially when you’re at a... young age where it isn’t exactly_ appropriate _to be touching people in such a manner, you should work those feelings out by….’_

That’s where Kabuto had stopped. It took him a long time to get out the rest of the sentence. But Haruna knows well. As she finishes her hair at last, she tosses it back over her shoulder and it hangs heavily down her back. She tilts her head and lets the water run through it for a few moments. When she is satisfied, she leans over and grabs the shampoo, squirting a large amount into the palm of her hand. Taking one step forward out of the stream of water, she lathers it into her hair.

 _You touch yourself._  That was how Kabuto had described it, and he did not go into any further detail. She recalls how red his face had been at that point. He couldn’t even meet her eye. He’d turned away from her and asked her to leave. It was weird and embarrassing, but Haruna had still been grateful for his advice and all the information she’d been given. She’d left, still puzzled over the phrase, but put it out of her mind. And it had been until now that she’d never felt anything like what Kabuto had described.

As she washes her long, midnight hair, combing her fingers through the strands, she thinks it over. Now seems like as good a time as ever to perhaps figure out what it was Kabuto had been talking about. She feels a strange prickling sensation between her thighs, and a strong sense of desire begins to overcome her. She hardly knows what to do. She takes a step back and tilts her head, letting the water run through her hair once more to rinse out the soap. All the while, she finds her hands slowly finding her sides, running down them gently. Her skin tingles slightly under her own touch, and she feels almost weirded out. But it doesn’t stop her hand from travelling lower, until it reaches the pulsing mound of hormones between her legs. 

\---

After a few minutes, she gets up slowly, and returns to cleaning her hair and body. She feels a numbness between her thighs, but it is not a bad one. Not at all. She feels happy, and very satisfied. These feelings are extremely new to her, but she welcomes them as she runs the conditioner through her hair. They make her feel amazing, so what is there to not welcome?

Finally, after a long time spent in the shower, she is finally clean. She shuts off the water and steps out of the tub, drying herself off with the towel. Staring at the nail polish, she decides it’s time to paint her nails, and finally become a member. She walks over to the sink, still naked, and grabs the clippers from the counter. She sets to work, trimming until they’re short and neat. Then at long last, she paints each one and waits for them to dry.

As she stares at her wet, pink nails, she replays everything that happened in the shower. It had been her very first time experiencing anything like that. She still feels shaken to her core by the strong sensations that had filled her, overcome her, and the noises that had escaped her...she had not purposely made those noises. They were simply what had come from the truly invigorating experience. Her body had  _responded,_  just as Kabuto had described. It’s...relieving. Haruna is glad to know that her body works the way it should. A small smile plays on her lips as she thinks of Deidara, and his eyes...his mouth. She knows very little--but what she does know, is that she wants very badly to learn what it’s like to be touched by someone else. Kabuto had said people at a young age shouldn’t be touching others...but Haruna is fifteen, already technically considered an adult in many villages. At least, she would be if she were still in the Leaf Village. To her, it seems she’s reached the age already where it is appropriate. So what is stopping her from inviting Deidara to touch her?

She lifts her hands and blows and the polish gently to dry it. She thinks it over slowly, her heart racing at the thought of baring herself to Deidara. Perhaps it’s a little too soon...she hardly knows the boy. And what if...he doesn’t want her? What if he isn’t interested in her? The thought stings a little, but to Haruna, there is no reason in her mind why he would reject her. Staring down at her small-ish breasts and skinny figure, then glancing up at the mirror and studying her face, she cannot think of a reason why he wouldn’t be attracted to her. Having hardly been around another woman in a very long time, she’s had nothing to compare herself to all these years, which has led to her be very confident in her body, if nothing else. This brings a real smile to her face. She likes Deidara, finds him cute and handsome, and feels very...hungry for someone to touch her at the moment. Therefore, no reason comes to her why she should not go and offer herself to Deidara.

It’s settled, then. As soon as her nails dry, she pulls the robe over her clean, naked body and zips it up all the way. She slips on her sandals and realizes all of a sudden that she’d forgotten her toenails...shrugging, she decides she’ll do them later. Brushing her hair down is all that’s left; a task she completes as quickly as she possibly can. Her body begins to quiver again, that same desire pumping through her. She wants to hurry. She wants to be touched again. Though bewildered by the sudden urgency, her judgement is clouded by her desire, and of course, her curiosity.

With hair neatly brushed and skin clean and glowing, Haruna takes one last look in the mirror, shocked at how strange she looks in one of their robes. She doesn’t reject the look, however. It grows on her only in a matter of seconds, and she decides that she looks cool. Maybe even cool enough to impress Deidara.

Unlocking and opening the door, she leaves the bathroom and sets out to find Deidara, to have her needs met and her questions answered.


	20. 純真 (Innocence)

Haruna doesn't know if she should be doing this as she steps down the hall. The robes billow around her and gently caress her legs, and she can feel the breeze flowing beneath her. It's refreshing, but it does little to calm her. She feels nervous and jittery, her hands trembling, and she clenches them a few times to try and calm her fluttering heart. She begins to doubt herself, to wonder if Deidara really did want her at all, or if she had just been imagining those cocky glances and teasing smirks. However, she quickly finds herself at the door, and at that point, there's no turning back. Slowly reaching out her hand, she knocks shyly on his door, getting a faint sense of deja vu all the while.

"Ugh," she hears Deidara groan from behind the wood. The  _screech_  of a chair being pushed against the floor is heard, followed by angry, loud footsteps nearing the door. Suddenly, it flies open, and there stands Deidara, his long, golden locks flying about. His robe is off, leaving nothing but a long-sleeved mesh shirt that leaves nothing to the imagination, and dark slacks that hang just above his ankles. Haruna regards him hungrily, but says nothing at first. She nibbles on her lower lip a bit as he starts to yell at her, but visibly does a double take as he realizes just who he is looking at. His demeanor changes almost instantly, a smile replacing the sullen frown that had been tugging at his lips mere moments ago. There is a twinkle in his eye. "Oh, it's you," he says to her in a bit of a sultry tone.

Haruna nods, suddenly very shy. Her face flushes deeply and she feels her lips tremble as she tries to make them move. They don't listen, and consequently, nothing comes out of her mouth.

The blonde merely chuckles at her. "What is it, hm? Cat got your tongue?" He winks at her and leans against the doorframe. "Something you wanted to say to me?"

Haruna clears her throat and tries to gather her thoughts. She'd been so caught up in the emotions that she hadn't really thought anything through. She hadn't planned anything to say. She'd just envisioned herself going to him and getting what she wanted--if he agreed to it, of course. The logistics; the minor details in between...they'd been lost somewhere. And as she stands there, staring into his deep blue eyes, she feels herself get even more lost. She sighs and folds her arms over her chest. "Can I come in?" she finally asks, for lack of anything else to say.

Deidara raises a blonde eyebrow at her. "You want to come into my room? Why is that?"

Haruna sighs again, frustrated. She doesn't know how to say what she feels. She considers just being frank, but the idea is just too intimidating for her. She shakes her head and steps closer to the boy, tilting her head as she enters his space and stares him straight in the eyes.  _Go on, Haruna. You can do this._  "Deidara," she starts again, her breath a bit shaky. She's only inches from his face, his lips....  _Focus!_ "Mm, Deidara," she clears her throat once more. "I, uh. I wanted to...ask you something. If...you're not busy."

Deidara smirks as she gets closer and simply stares down at her with his piercing gaze. An amused expression sits on his face, and after a few moments, he chuckles and steps back, inviting her in. "Alright, you can come in, hn."

Haruna's heart, which had been racing like a prey animal escaping for its life, slows a little as he steps away from her, and she feels a bit relieved, for she felt for a moment as though she might pass out. She steps into the room and Deidara shuts the door behind him, leaning his back against it. Haruna turns around to face him, this time keeping a few feet away, for the sake of her sanity. Her palms begin to sweat, and she subtly wipes them on her robe.

Speaking of her robe, Deidara finally notices it as he eyes her up and down. "I see you've finally picked up on our attire. That outfit looks rather nice on you, hn." He flashes his brilliant smile at her.

Haruna blushes a bit and nods her head, accepting the compliment. "Th-thank you," she mutters, before continuing on. "I was just wondering if...uh...." She swallows, steeling herself. There truly is no other way to go about this except to be honest, she decides, and paces herself as she formulates the words in her mind. "I was wondering if I was...imagining things...when I would catch you...staring at me...?" She starts with that, gazing up at him and waiting for his response.

The blonde studies her for a while, the tiniest smile playing at his lips. "Was  _I_  imagining things when I caught  _you_  staring at  _me_?"

Haruna huffs at him and sends him a bit of a pout, playfully glaring at him. "Well...," she begins, her gaze faltering as she grows shy again. "...no."

Deidara nods and gives her another smile. "I see...hn."

Haruna frowns at him. "I want to know if you like me," she finally tells him, slightly agitated at the game he is playing.

Deidara seems to have been waiting for that, as his face lights up almost immediately and he chuckles, stepping off the door and towards her. "There's the question," he says with a nod, closing the space between them. He makes no other moves, though, even as Haruna instinctively backs away. "Well, I suppose you could say I do, hn."

"Wh-what does that mean," Haruna asks him nervously, her eyes narrowing.

"It's not like I know who you are," replies the golden-haired boy. "But I think I would like you a lot more if I could...get to know you better. Don't you think?"

Haruna thinks over his words for a moment or two. It makes sense to her; that is quite similar to how she is feeling. It relieves her to hear him admit that he does have an interest in her, and she lets out a breath she had no idea she'd been holding. Nodding, she steps closer to him again. "Yes...um," she continues on, "mostly, I...came here because...well." She brushes some hair behind her ear and looks away. "I'm...really new to this...," she bites her lip and lowers her voice for the next two words before raising it to a normal volume once again, " _sex thing..._ and I was just...wondering if you could...help...me." She squeezes her eyes shut tight and braces for the worst. She cannot believe those words have just come out of her mouth, and she feels herself cringing on the inside...and pretty much on the outside, as well.

Deidara, stunned, looks down at her for a few moments in silence. He processes, replays the words, and formulates a question. "You...want  _me_...to teach you...? Is that what you're asking me?"

Haruna nods, never opening her eyes. She starts to feel the tiniest twinge of regret and opens her mouth to backpedal, reeling in embarrassment as she attempts to take back everything she'd just said--

"Sure, if you're okay with that...hn."

The girl freezes and stares him dead in the eyes. "You...what?"

Deidara chuckles at her, finding her even stranger as every moment passes. "I said yes. I'll help you." He finally closes the space between them completely, wrapping his arms around her gently.

Haruna quivers in relief as desire wastes no time in filling her once again. She leans into his embrace shyly, feeling herself reach for him. Her fingertips graze him for the first time, his firm back underneath her touch. Haruna likes the feeling.

\----

Consciousness slowly returns to the once-sleeping Uchiha, who'd been resting all this time. His body is still a bit achy, but nothing like it had been earlier. His chest, however, does not hurt at all. It's such a strange feeling as he slowly sits up in the bed, placing his hand on the area that had been a constant source of agony for so long. But now, it's nothing at all. He can breathe well--nothing brings him pain like it used to. He has no idea what Haruna might have done to him, but he isn't exactly complaining.

Still, his heart is heavy. The plans which he had so carefully constructed over nine years have now fallen apart, by the hands of the two people he'd specifically spared  _for his plans._  It's a strange twist, indeed. He has no idea how it could have happened...then, as he thinks it over, a sullen expression takes over his face.  _Tobi._  Or, Madara. If he hadn't told Haruna about the truth, she wouldn't have changed her mind about him...she would have let him die like he was supposed to. Nothing can be done about it now, however. It hurts, but he must think of other ways to be of use to his village now.

He clears his throat, his eyes opening slowly. He finds that they are not pitch dark as they had been the day before--he can barely see a thing, but there are grays in his vision now...faint light. He can just make out the shape of the door, and as he looks down, he can just see his hands. It's a bit of relief to him that his eyes have no left him just yet. He lifts his head then, and begins to search for Haruna. Through his heavily clouded gaze, he cannot make out any human forms in the room. So he decides to call for her, instead.

"Haruna? Are you in here?" There is no answer. Itachi frowns and tries to sense her location. She is still within the cave. Itachi breathes a sigh of relief. Perhaps she'd gone to get some food or take a shower. Yes, the thought is comforting to him as he gingerly swings his legs over the side of the bed and attempts to stand.

However, it is at the moment when he begins to hear the screaming.

_Deidara!_

Itachi stops dead where he sits. He tries to tell himself he'd imagined it, but that scream is followed by another of the same, and he cannot deny it anymore. Why someone is screaming Deidara's name is beyond him. He tries to ignore it and gets up slowly, gently stretching his limbs. More screams. His name becomes a desperate chant that rings through the walls of the cave, and an irritated frown crosses over Itachi's face. He puts two and two together, and that's when he figures out just why this girl is screaming.  _How rude,_  he thinks.  _And embarrassing._

Then, he realizes something. There are only two girls in the Akatsuki. One of them does not have those relations with  _anyone,_  let alone Deidara, of all people. She sticks to Pein like glue, and has never given any indication of liking Deidara in the slightest. That leaves only one other girl....

Itachi's feet move before he even commands them to. He's out of the room faster than he thinks possible, storming down the hall towards the source of the noise...the banging. It becomes more and more obvious as he nears the bedroom, what is going on behind the door. He hopes and prays to whoever is out there that it isn't who he thinks it is. Maybe Deidara picked up a hooker on the way back from a mission....

No. It's forbidden within the Akatsuki, and Deidara isn't necessarily one to break the rules that blatantly...that's more of a Hidan thing to do. Deidara had never caused trouble within the organization. No matter how Itachi tries, he cannot make it someone else. It has to be her.

As he rounds the corner, his hands flying out to find a wall to follow, he knows he's nearing the door now. He can hear  _everything._  It's just the girl now, and she's louder than ever. And because he's so close, he can hear loud and clear the voice he'd wished with all his might he would not hear. It belongs to Haruna.

This makes him all the more urgent. His hand meets with the wall at last, and he practically sprints down the hall, his hand following the line of doors. He hears a glass-shattering scream at that moment, and feels his heart stop. Is Deidara...hurting her? Anger begins to course through him now, and he storms to the door, wrenching it open and practically throwing himself inside.

"Ah! Shit! I-Itachi!" he hears Deidara let out a squeak.  _Thump!_  "Ow!" He has obviously fallen off the bed.

"Haruna," Itachi says in a very firm voice, ignoring the idiot blonde. He turns his face towards where he thinks the bed is, and he is right.

Haruna scrambles to cover herself, unaware of Itachi's lack of sight. Her heart is racing in her chest, shame coming over her like a soaking wet blanket. She wants to hide under the very earth and disappear. "I-Itachi...," is all she says, buried under the blankets and sheets.

"Out here, now," Itachi commands her, pointing at the ground right beside him.

Haruna, ashamed and deflated, glances at Deidara and quietly asks him for her robe. Deidara remains in his place on the floor and reaches for the robe, tossing it to her. He's hiding for his life.

Haruna watches Itachi warily, slipping the robe over her already-covered body and zipping it up. Once she's clothed, she slowly extracts herself from the blankets and crawls off of the bed, giving Deidara one last glance. She wants to thank him. She has so much more to say, to ask--but she's being dragged away from him now. She has no choice. She waves at him sadly before standing beside Itachi like he had requested. Deidara looks up at her with fearful eyes and says nothing.

"Haruna, go back to your room. I need to speak with you. But first...," Itachi steps further into the bedroom and taps the bed to make sure he knows where he is before travelling around it, and squatting down in front of Deidara, who gulps.

Haruna watches him, but leaves obediently afterwards, her face flushed and her heart beating relentlessly. She knows she must have done something very wrong for Itachi to speak to her like that.

Once the girl is gone, Itachi stares straight at Deidara--or at least, he hopes he does. "Do not underestimate me. I have many ways of torturing someone...and not all of those methods involve my eyes. I will  _kill you_  if you touch her again." His tone is flat and cold, his every word articulated to perfection. He's not playing around. "Were you hurting her, Deidara?"

Deidara shakes his head wildly.

After a moment of silence, Itachi leans closer to him. "Answer me." His tone is dangerously low.

"I-I said no--I shook my head," Deidara stutters, slowly backing away from the older male. He's confused and intimidated by him--and absolutely not used to him acting this way. "I-I wasn't hurting her. She came to me on her own and said she wanted me to teach her--"

"That's enough. I don't want to hear anything else out of you." He stands, shaking his head in disbelief. He cannot believe Haruna would do such a thing, as innocent as she is. She probably doesn't even know anything about this. The thought of Deidara taking advantage of Haruna simply makes Itachi sick. He sends the boy a glare in warning, setting his jaw. He's furious. Livid. But he says nothing more. He turns and storms out of the room, leaving the blonde there on the floor to think about his actions.

\--

Haruna sits on her bed, thinking over everything that had transpired moments before, her hands wringing nervously. She cannot believe Itachi had caught her with Deidara--the thought sickens her. She replays the scene over and over in her head, feeling more and more embarrassment as time goes on. She feels as though she might throw up or pass out...whichever comes first. Her head is light, her heart unable to slow its beating rate. Her chest is tight, and her stomach is upset. Itachi had seen her...naked...with a man. She holds her head and tries to shove the image away, but to no avail. She'd had no idea that what she was doing would cause any trouble for them...or anyone else. She'd just wanted answers. It had been such a weird day for her.

Itachi finally steps into the room, shutting the door behind him. Haruna hears all this but does not look up. She's too ashamed to acknowledge him. She knows she's probably about to get a lecture, anyways, which she prepares herself for now, sighing softly and drawing her knees to her chest. Let him do his worst, she thinks. Maybe his lecture will get her back into place.

She begins to look on the incident with Deidara as a mistake, and regret joins up with shame to bear down on her so heavily, she feels like she's being crushed. She's done something awful...she's let someone touch her. Itachi is angry, so it must have been horrible.

_Oh, no. What have I done...?_

Her eyes begin to well with tears. This must be the end, she decides.  _Something horrible is going to happen. I'm going to die. Itachi is going to kill me._

Instead, he clears his throat and speaks to her, his soft tone returning. "Haruna," he says. "Can you please tell me what you were doing with Deidara?"

Haruna slowly lifts her head, tears running down her cheeks as she stares up at Itachi. She's overcome with the strangest deja vu in that moment...she recalls something from her childhood. A time when something similar to this happened. She'd done something wrong, and he scolded her for it. He'd always been there to tell her right from wrong, when her mother wasn't around to do it. Many of her core morals had been formed thanks to him. It's as if he'd raised her. It's then that she realizes how much she's missed him. It only makes her cry harder. She lowers her head again and continues to sob, not answering Itachi's question.

Itachi frowns, concerned. "Haruna," he tries again. "Did he hurt you?"

"N-no, no he didn't," Haruna says between sobs. "I-I just...I...," she doesn't finish.

"You what?" Itachi prods her.

"I just--I--" she tries to speak, but there's a lump in her throat. She can hardly breathe. She begins to hyperventilate, panic settling upon her heavily. She's made a mistake. She's in trouble. Itachi's angry with her.  _Itachi._  The one who never gets mad.

"You just, what?" Itachi asks, his tone never wavering, though he feels a twinge of impatience. He just needs to know what happen. He wants to hear it from her mouth that she'd gone to him on her own. He cannot bear the thought of Deidara forcing himself on her...and partly, he really doesn't want to kill the boy. But if that is really what happened, he might just have to.

 

“I-I was curious, okay?!” Haruna shrieks at him, her head flying up. She stares at him wildly as tears flow endlessly from her lavender eyes. “I-I-- I don’t know what’s wrong with me today…,” she sobs and whimpers, hugging herself tightly. 

“‘Curious’,” Itachi repeats, nodding his head. A relieved sigh passes his lips, and he begins to make his careful way towards the bed, his hands out in front of him in case he bumps into something. 

Haruna peeks up at him and notices, a frightened look slowly forming on her face. “I-Itachi…?”

He pays her questioning tone no mind as he finally sits on the bed beside her. “Still as curious as ever, I see,” he sighs. “You've been this way since you were very small...and yet you still have not learned that sometimes, your curiosity can get you into some serious trouble.” 

Haruna’s gaze lowers. 

“I'm not sure what you would be curious about so suddenly that you would rush off to find someone to…,” he falters, leaving that sentence hanging for a few moments. He wets his lips, sighs once again, and continues on. “Regardless, your questions have been answered, then, I assume?”

The girl slowly nods, clenching her fists into the fabric of the sheets as a tear slips from her eye and lands upon it. 

After a couple seconds, Itachi repeats himself calmly. “Have they, Haruna?”

“I-I nodded,” Haruna replies, staring up at him once more. At his eyes. They're dark and hooded, and aren't even staring at her at all. They're off somewhere far away. “Y-your eyes...Itachi, what--”

“Never mind them. I'm worried about you right now.”

But Haruna will not stand for it. “Itachi, what happened to your eyes?!”

Itachi breathes in deep and expels a long, exasperated sigh. “They've faded,” he says simply. “I used them and they served me well. But their time came at last, and I had to say goodbye.”

Haruna glares at him for quite a while, completely flabbergasted. “How can you just….accept it like that?” she mutters quietly. “They were your eyes...they were your power. Without them, you're...well--”

“Positively useless,” Itachi quips, his tone calm. 

The girl frowns. “Well, sort of. I didn't want to say it like that….”

“It's alright, Haruna. It's the truth. And there's nothing I can do about it.”

She stares at him a while longer. “Why did you leave to battle Sasuke if you knew they were going to fail you like this?” 

Ah, yes. The question Itachi had known quite well would be coming up eventually. He sighs once more and shifts in his place, trying to find the words. In the end, he knows the only way to speak to her is honestly, so that is what he does. “Well, I wasn't planning on surviving the battle. With my tumor and my eyes, I knew I was near death anyways, so I figured--”

“N-no,” Haruna cuts in, launching herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Sadness fills her at the thought of losing her own sight...how must Itachi be feeling now? Her chest tightens with regret for his loss. But beyond all that, she is relieved as she comes to realize that there is no way Itachi could have seen her naked. She breathes a sigh as she hugs him hard.

Itachi jumps as girl is suddenly upon him--he hadn't expected it. His eyebrows are raised and he simply sits there in shocked silence. 

“I'm not letting you die. Not ever,” Haruna whispers. She's crying again, her chest quivering against the older male's as she clings to him with all her might. “But...I’m sorry about your eyes. I had no idea. I'm gonna fix those, too...I promise.” She buries her face into his shoulder, giving his back the tiniest pats. 

Itachi is overwhelmed with déjà vu as the younger girl holds him. He doesn't move, for fear of breaking down. Not even when she promises to heal his eyes. He knows it's impossible, but tries to find comfort in her words, even if only for a moment. At last, he slowly wraps his arms around her, hugging her lightly. After the long years of solitude and pain which he had endured, it is quite relieving to be holding the girl he’d once looked upon as his younger sister; he'd once thought he wouldn't ever again.  


	21. 真の愛の代価 (The Price of True Love)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [t/w: suicide]

Much of the following weeks are spent watching over the now-blind Itachi and looking after him. Haruna works day and night taking care of him--making sure he's eaten and had a few walks around the cave to keep healthy. She checks on him daily, watching that small orange light in his chest slowly grow in size. She knows Itachi's life is still hanging by a thread, and that if that tumor grows anymore, his illnesses will return. She does all she can to shrink it, but to no avail. She tells Itachi none of this.

She also does not tell him of her plotting to return his eyesight to him. Late at night when she should be asleep, she lies awake staring at the ceiling, wracking her brain for a solution to the problem. Every night for several weeks she's thought long and hard until her brain simply shuts down and she passes out, and every night, she feels more and more despair...because there is nothing she can conceivably do to reverse the situation. She knows no special medical ninjutsu for eyesight--she's not even sure if one exists to reverse blindness, to begin with.

So finally, after almost a month spent in that cave with Itachi, feeding him and leading him around, and staying up until early morning with her useless thoughts and ideas, she finally comes to a realization one night.

She knows someone with a vast knowledge of medical ninjutsu. Someone who's studied independently--with hardly any setbacks and no regulations of any kind--for many years. Someone who knows almost everything. Someone who's taught Haruna so much--someone who trained her in the medical arts.

"Ugh... _Kabuto_ ," Haruna spits the word under her breath. Yes, the very thought sets her teeth on edge, her stomach convulsing in a manner likely to cause her to throw up. However, she knows it is her only option at this point. Itachi's eyesight has not improved in the slightest; nor has his tumor. In point of fact, the latter only continues to worsen, and it is the one thing that will end his life if left untreated. There is simply no other choice.

She sits up in bed now, late at night. Itachi lies on a cot beside her, fast asleep. Completely unaware of anything. Haruna stares at him for a few moments, a frown weighing on her lips. She begins to wonder how she will contact Kabuto, tapping her fingers against her leg.

However, before she can sort that out, another thought comes to her. For the past month, she's seen less and less of the Akatsuki members...in fact, she can't recall if she'd even seen Deidara after that day with him...it's as if they've all disappeared. The last time she'd even seen Tobi was nearly a week ago. And since then, no one had even come to the cave. It's only her and Itachi in there now, alone. Now that she thinks of it, it's rather strange. A bit...concerning.

Had they forgotten about them, perhaps? Why else would they be absent for so long? Haruna had allegedly been added to their ranks to fulfill a "special purpose"...and yet it has been three months, and she has done absolutely nothing, aside from rescuing Itachi and saving his life. She's just been spending her days locked away in this damned cave. What is going on?

It's all a rather perturbing matter to the girl, but she shakes it away after a few more moments of consideration. True, it is indeed strange, and Haruna cannot deny the feelings of uncertainty and nervousness convoluting within her. However, she realizes shortly that it also means she's free to do whatever kind of snooping she pleases--and without getting caught. It's perfect. She can figure out a way to contact Kabuto and get his help, all without being interrupted.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing, she decides to set to work immediately. No time like the present, after all. She carefully steps around the sleeping man on her floor and makes her way out of the bedroom and into the ever-lit hallway. Shutting the door softly behind her, she lets out a breath and prepares herself.

"Alright," she says aloud. "Time to get down to business."

Despite the fact that she has no plan in mind whatsoever, she stalks over to the walk-in closet she'd found weeks earlier and wrenches the door open, stepping inside and heading straight for the rack she needs. She pulls off a robe from its hanger and throws it on with a flourish, fastening it with confidence. Her long, dark hair is tucked in against her back, but the robe is a bit loose, so her head is free to move wherever it pleases. The collar is tall and hides her face in an ominous way, revealing only her lavender Hyuga eyes. Haruna knows she looks cool.

Now that she has a robe on once again, she feels confident and ready for anything. She squares her shoulders and steps out into the open room once more and focuses her chakra with closed eyes. Then, all at once, she activates her _Byakugan_ and searches through the rock walls of the cave. She widens her range as far as it will reach, looking for anything--any possibility of exiting the cavern in which she'd found herself trapped for nearly three months now.

For a long while, she comes up with nothing. Absolutely nothing. All around, like before, are trees upon trees...villages to the east...the ocean to the south. Frowning, she narrows her search a little, peering thoroughly into the seemingly endless brush. She glances at every single tree that comes into view; every rock, every stump. It takes quite a while, and just as Haruna runs out of patience and moves to give up, something catches her eye: a single tag stuck onto the branch of a tree in the far-off distance. Upon it is written, '爆発' or 'detonate.' Confused, Haruna keeps its location in mind and shifts her eyes back to the massive rock wall enclosing her. After a good search, she comes to find another tag upon it with the same symbols. Perhaps this means if the tag is ripped off of the tree, the rock will detonate? Haruna nods slowly as she comes to this logical conclusion, and focuses her attention back on the faraway branch--

_CRASH!_

Haruna jumps as a loud explosion sounds from one end of the cave. She immediately leaps back and faces the direction of the sudden noise, drawing a kunai on instinct. Her _Byakugan_ had surprisingly remained active, so as soon as she gathers her bearings, she focuses it on the now-gaping hole in the once-solid and seemingly impenetrable wall of the cave. Through the remaining smoke and unstable rubble, she can make out a figure. Focusing on its face, she is completely shocked--so much so that the knife falls out of her hand and clatters to the floor.

 _Him?! But how could he be here now?!_ She internally demands, her mind reeling as she tries to make sense of it all. _How did he find me? And why would he show up now--right when I was trying to...._

She doesn't finish her thought as none other than Kabuto steps out of the billowing smoke. Though--it's barely the Kabuto Haruna had once known. Now donning a burgundy-colored cloak, his face and skin seem to be torn and scaled...like that of a snake. His hair is longer and shaggier, and upon closer inspection, Haruna notices his eyes...golden, with a diamond-shaped slit down the middle. Snake eyes. Just like Orochimaru's.

It's such a great surprise to the girl that she can hardly form words. She still tries, in spite of herself. "Kabu...," she shakes her head, a look of anger flashing across her face. "Tsk...Kabuto." At last, she spits out the name she so despises, straightening her stance. She can't let her guard down in front of him. "What the hell happened to you?"

A low-toned and positively evil chuckle erupts from the strange snakey Kabuto as he glides towards her. Haruna peers around him and notices a slimy tail following behind him. She shudders and tenses...she absolutely hates snakes.

"Now, now, is that any way to talk to someone who's trying to rescue you?" The same nasty, haughty, condescending tone as always. The one Haruna detests more than just about anything. It fills her with the purest, sickest form of rage imaginable. Though perhaps, it could also be fueled by the man's absurd insinuation just now. "By the way, that's a nice robe you're wearing." The smugness is sickeningly evident.

"Rescue me?!" Haruna cries at him, seething with anger. She ignores his last comment. "What are you even talking about?!"

Kabuto smirks at her, ever approaching, but still slow and very slimy. It sets Haruna's teeth on edge. She takes one step back.

"Well, I couldn't let my precious experiment simply waste away in a cave whilst her kidnappers completely neglect her, now, could I?"

Haruna's eyes narrow. "Your precious experiment?!" she repeats in disbelief. "I'm no one's experiment. And if anything, I wasn't yours at all. I served Orochimaru--not you!" She'd almost insulted him--but she suddenly remembers that she had needed something from him. Her anger qualms just slightly.

Another humorless laugh, like before. He shakes his head a couple of times and stares at her almost hungrily. It's sickening. "Ah, perhaps you are right. But you see, I'm afraid Lord Orochimaru is no longer with us."

Haruna gapes at him, stunned into silence.

"Well at least, not in the way he used to be," Kabuto presses on, speaking slowly and concisely--purposely dancing around his point to tease the girl. "He was once here in mind and body, but...now, I'm afraid, he's--"

"Kabuto." Haruna's tone is cold and quiet, but even Kabuto cannot miss the utter rage boiling within its dangerous undertones.

"Hmph. Well, alright. I suppose I'll cut to the chase." He slides his glasses up his nose carefully, and with just one finger. Pretentious as always, Haruna silently notes. "He's dead, but I have absorbed him into myself and become one with him." His lips curve into a satisfied smirk...like a ravenous beast who's had his fill. "He and I are now one and the same."

Haruna's eyes enlarge to a size almost too big for her skull. Her jaw falls slack, and all she can do is stare at the disgusting snake man standing before her, and try to process the absolute nonsense that has just come from his mouth.

"You're speechless, I see," Kabuto cackles, his smile never fading. "I'm even more powerful now. I've even surpassed Lord Orochimaru, having become everything he'd ever made...including himself. Now all I need to become whole and perfect...is the final piece." With that, he bores his desirous gaze into the girl and continues to approach her. His long, pointed tongue slips from between his lips and grazes them. No--not his tongue. Orochimaru's.

Haruna yelps quietly and shivers, shaking her head wildly and stumbling backwards. "Y-you can't m-mean me," she mutters, reaching slowly for another kunai. "I-I wasn't an experiment! I-I--"

"Oh, no, you most certainly weren't," Kabuto agrees. "But you were one of Orochimaru's prized possessions...one of his visions. He had such high hopes for you...you were meant to be his vessel, after all."

Haruna pauses and glowers at him, hand buried deep in her kunai pack, her fingers clasped around a knife. "I thought that was Sasuke."

"Hmph. Perhaps. But that boy is no longer anything special to us...not after he murdered Lord Orochimaru so mercilessly." His tone is bitter as he says it.

Haruna freezes once more, her heart stopping momentarily as another shock runs through her. This time, however, she finds her voice. "Sasuke...killed...him?"

"Did I stutter?" is Kabuto's snide reply.

The girl frowns as she processes this new information, running it all through one more time. Orochimaru is dead, because of Sasuke. It had been their original plan--before Haruna left, that is. It had also been their plan to take down Itachi together--Haruna steers away from that thought. Now, with Orochimaru deceased, Kabuto claims to have absorbed him, along with the rest of Orochimaru's numerous experiments...by looking at him now, Haruna cannot find a reason not to believe him. The evidence is clear as day before her.

But now he wants to take her back with him. Probably absorb her, as well. Doing so would not only kill Haruna, but it would also leave poor Itachi alone by himself with no one to guide him.

Itachi! That's right! How could Haruna have forgotten? She needs Kabuto's help. But how can she get it from him now? He's nearing her, slithering his way ever closer. Haruna's chest tightens as she hears the smallest hiss. It's too much like the real thing. From within the kunai holster, her grip goes slack and drops from the bag as she nearly trips backwards, trying to escape the sound that fills her with utter terror. Her heart begins to race.

"Come on, Haruna. You can't resist me now! After all, I am your master." He quickens his pace now, another hiss leaving him.

"N-no!" Haruna shrieks, infusing her feet with chakra and fleeing up the wall. "Leave me alone!" Panic sets in as she rushes to escape. It can't end like this; not now. She'd been trapped for so long with no explanation--the last thing she will allow is for her freedom to be snatched away once more. That, and the thought of following anything resembling a snake so closely fills her with disgust...it petrifies her. She'd already had enough trouble coping with Orochimaru's form...Kabuto's current state only makes matters worse. No. She dashes away from the creep now, eyes stinging with tears. She will not let him catch her.

An impatient grunt leaves the man, who simply follows her up the wall. "You're not going to get away from me!" he calls to her. She can just tell by his tone that he's already frustrated...he had never exactly been the best at concealing such feelings. "You and I both know who's the faster one!"

Haruna activates her _Byakugan_ once more and watches him closely as she sprints away from him, dashing across the hall from doorway to doorway, leaping to the floor and running as fast as possible down the hall once again. Trying to confuse him. She scampers away like a terrified rabbit from the massive, slithering snake that follows her hungrily. He gains on her, and pretty soon his outstretched arm is merely inches from her back. Gasping sharply, she notices the gaping hole in the rock wall and makes for it, increasing her pace.

Kabuto barely misses her and clenches his teeth as she leaps through the hole and into the night. He follows her, drawing a kunai and tossing it at her.

Haruna sees it with her Byakugan and just barely dodges in time, the blade grazing the arm of her robe. It slices through the fabric, missing her skin. Haruna glances at it momentarily before vaulting herself up into the trees. She feels a twinge of guilt for leaving Itachi there alone, but she reminds herself that he is fast asleep now and won't wake up for a while. She'll return once she's lost Kabuto and take care of him again.

"Tsk," Kabuto tuts crossly as he follows after her. "You're just making things more difficult for yourself!" He hurls several shuriken at her then, waiting to see how she reacts.

Haruna leaps out of the way in time, though one of them scrapes her foot on the way, drawing blood. She winces slightly, but it doesn't stop her. _Have to...get away...._

"Ugh, please," mutters Kabuto, who infuses more chakra into his feet now. He gains speed with each leap, and very soon is closing in on Haruna.

Haruna sees it all and panics once again. She does the same with her own chakra, but ultimately doesn't form as much as Kabuto, as he eventually grabs onto her cloak and tosses her to the ground with all his strength. It's a thirty-foot fall, and it comes with a price. She can feel all of the air forcefully leave her entire chest as her body makes harsh contact with the earth, and finds herself unable to breathe for longer than comfortable. Her shoulders and hips ache--one of them more so than the rest. In fact, it's throbbing sharply, and after a moment or two, she finds that she is unable to move it at all. It's not in place; merely sitting outside of its proper socket, screaming out in pain. Haruna would be doing the same if she were able to actually breathe....

Beside her, Kabuto drops to the ground, approaching slowly. "Finally," he grunts, sliding his glasses up again.

Haruna clutches her chest and wheezes, trying her hardest to force air back into her lungs, but to no avail. As the seconds pass, she's gradually able to determine just what is out of place and in terrible pain...her left shoulder.

Kabuto squats beside her and smirks. "I told you I was the faster one.'

Slowly, air returns to the girl, who gasps deeply and sucks up as much as she physically can. As her lungs fill and empty once more, the tears that had been prickling her eyes now flow freely, and a sob leaves her. She's never felt so much pain in her life...at least, not physically. She stares up at the man pleadingly, unable to form words. She only shakes and cries at him. She needs the pain to leave. She doesn't want to go with him...and yet she still needs his help.

Kabuto frowns at her. "Stop...stop crying like that. It's disgraceful." He shakes his head in disdain.

"Sh...shoulder...," Haruna manages between sobs, her eyes closing. Her Byakugan had once again dissolved. It's strange to Haruna how it always seems to shut off in times of great stress...or whenever she gets knocked around.

"Your shoulder?" asks Kabuto confusedly. "What about it?"

"P-please," she coughs, and cries harder when it jostles the dislocated joint. "P-put it back...it h-hurts!"

"'Put it back'?" Kabuto repeats in confusion, glancing at the shoulder closest to him--the left one. After a moment of investigation, the trained medical ninja realizes it's been dislocated. With a heavy sigh, he grabs hold of the shoulder and firmly twists it, setting it back in place.

Haruna practically screams as a "click" is heard and a sudden jolt of sharp pain shoots down her entire arm. But right after that is only sweet relief. She calms down almost immediately, not moving as the injured appendage throbs in agony in an attempt to heal after the great stress. "Th..thank you," Haruna mutters, her eyes closing.

"Sometimes, I really wonder what Lord Orochimaru saw in you," Kabuto muses after a moment. Haruna says nothing. "Now. Are you going to come quietly and obediently? Or will I have to dislocate both of your shoulders this time?" He speaks through gritted teeth, and Haruna can tell he's had it with her.

She doesn't care.

"If I go with you now," she tells him quietly as an idea slowly forms in her head, "I will go kicking and screaming. I won't let you hear the end of it. Even if you dislocate both my shoulders, I will not stop. I will use my legs. I will scream and Itachi will hear me, and he will come and kill you." Definitely bluffing with the shoulder bit, Haruna knows she wouldn't be able to handle two of her shoulders dislocated...she can barely handle the one. But it doesn't matter to her at this moment. She's willing to fake her way through anything if it means her survival.

Kabuto's gaze narrows. He hadn't known Itachi was around. Also, he's sure the girl is bluffing. If that had been her reaction to one shoulder out...there's no way. _What is she playing at,_ he wonders.

It is at this point that Haruna slowly turns her eyes to stare up at him. Yes, this plan should work. It just has to. Itachi must get better. Even if it means....

"But. If you help me with something--if you answer my question and help me--I will go with you quietly. I'll let you do whatever it is you want with me. But you have to help me with this first. Or else." She stares at him long and hard; unwaveringly. Saying it makes her sick; even thinking about willingly going with this creep fills her to the brim with vehement disgust. But it's her only choice now. Itachi is all she has left...and as much as she wishes to spend the rest of her days by his side, she also wants him to regain his eyesight so he can live fully and healthily, and independently. After all he's lost...she just can't let his eyes be one other thing.

It's strange, and she doesn't quite understand it, but she feels as though this is the right decision. Even though it hurts. She can feel her heart physically aching within her chest. Looking back, she realizes she's never done anything like this for anyone, ever, in her entire life.. But it's because Itachi is so special that Haruna decides to make an exception now. She loves Itachi. Yes...that has to be it. So she fights back tears as she waits for Kabuto's answer.

The man in question purses his lips as he considers. He could just take her out right here and drag her limp body back...but thinking on it, he knows it will be quite a hassle. He'd hoped she would come quietly...it would make things so much easier for him. But what if she's lying and tries to escape?

No--the girl is still quite a child. Simple-minded. There's no way in Kabuto's mind that she would betray him like that. And even if she did, it would be easy for him to track her down again. He'd already found her once, hadn't he?

Another sigh leaves him. "Fine," he grunts. "What is it you want?"

Haruna slowly sits up, groaning a little from the soreness, but shifts until comfortable and gazes at Kabuto. "Itachi...he's gone blind. I'm not sure why...but I want to fix it. But I don't know how...I want you to teach me. On top of that, he has a microscopic tumor still living in his lung...I managed to shrink it a lot, but I couldn't get rid of it completely. I also want to know how to fix that." She stares at him seriously. "That's what I want."

Kabuto regards her for a long while, a bit taken aback by her desire to help someone like Itachi Uchiha. From what he can remember, Haruna had plotted killing the man a lot with Sasuke...it's strange for him to see her so adamant to help him after all that time of hating him. She'd been known to be hot-tempered and quick to dislike others...not so quick to forgive them. It's...odd to see such a change in the girl.

Finally, the medical specialist speaks up. "Itachi probably lost his eyesight due to extensive use of his Sharingan. The only way I can think of fixing that is if a close family member gives him their own eyes. Which...could pose a problem for you." He smirks a bit. "As for the tumor, you're going to need either a forbidden medical technique or to wait for it to grow again and physically cut it out, yourself."

Haruna frowns at him, dissatisfied with his reply. "Extensive use...? A family member...? B-but wait! Didn't Orochimaru keep a lot of Sharingan for himself?"

Kabuto mirrors her expression. "He wasn't able to keep that many. Someone had already gone ahead of him and taken all their eyes. Lord Orochimaru had access to very little. So, I'm afraid I can't help you there."

Haruna's shoulders droop and she stares at the ground, fighting back tears. "Fine...what about that forbidden medical technique?"

A sigh leaves Kabuto. "It's rather risky. It's also very intense. It involves invasive surgery, and requires a large amount of chakra. Not only that, but it's also very dangerous and comes with a risk of death." His lips curve into a smirk. He may have been embellishing on the risks just a little, but he really did not want to help her. Not at all.

Haruna is weighed down by despair so heavy, it almost forces tears from her eyes. She knows she can't perform an operation like that...Kabuto probably could, but he would not want to. Haruna doesn't even know how to feel about him operating on Itachi, either. Could this mean she is just flat out of luck? There's no way...she made a promise.

"Can't you at least find him new eyes...," she murmurs, unable to meet his gaze any longer. "If...if you find him suitable eyes...and teach me how to transplant then properly...then...then I will go with you willingly."

"I...," Kabuto scoffs, rolling his eyes at her. "Look: there's no conceivable way I could--"

Haruna snaps her head up and glares at him with the wildest stare. She is not playing. "I said," she repeats through gritted teeth, "find me suitable eyes and teach me how to transplant them. Or else. I will not go with you. And I will make your life a living hell until my last breath."   
Kabuto stares back into the cold, unforgiving eyes of the Hyuga girl below him, fighting against the intense gaze emitting from them. He's not afraid of her. However, he is surprised at her tenacity and courage, that she would speak to him this way without fear of backlash. He remembers the frightened, broken girl he had taken to his master all those years ago, the one who never stopped crying...the one who fought tooth and nail for Sasuke's attention. Now, here she lies, boldly demanding something from him and refusing to give him what he wants until her own needs are met. _How insolent,_ Kabuto muses with a shake of his head. Slowly, he gets to his feet. _How amusing._

He folds his arms over his chest and thinks it over for a moment. Yes, he does know of someone who could help him with this...though, he may have to strike a deal with him, as well. Ah, but no matter. As long as he gets the girl in the end...a smirk plays on his lips as his fingers drum against his arm.

"Alright, fine," he replies snidely at long last. "I'll find you two perfect Sharingan for Itachi and help you transplant them, if you're so insistent on it...just remember. If you try to make a run for it, I have no issues killing you. And when I catch you, I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born. Are we clear?"

Haruna has sat up and is peering at Kabuto, her own arms folded--more out of the need for comfort. She takes in a deep breath and lets it out. She knows Kabuto means it when he says something like that...he's never one to resort to violence first thing. Usually, it's the second thing on his list.

But the girl feels an ache deep within her as she remembers that as soon as Itachi is healed, she will have to say goodbye. She'd only just reunited with him, and already things have to change again. She wishes things would stop changing for once; that she could have a family again. But it all seems pointless now, as she quite literally stares her death in the face. Kabuto's eyebrow is cocked in such a way that makes Haruna's blood boil. He doesn't care one bit about her--not like it's news to Haruna. He just wants her power. Whatever that is. Good luck getting it, Haruna thinks to herself. I've only ever seen it once.

She could just refuse and run away, but she knows Kabuto will stop at nothing to have her. Deal or not, it's simply Haruna's fate to go with him, and be absorbed. And die. Fifteen years old and deceased. What a great life she'll have had. A sigh passes through her young lips, and she finally nods her head. "Yeah...I understand. I'll be in the cave if you need me." Slowly, she gets to her feet, brushing herself off.

Kabuto chuckles darkly. "Fair enough. Until we meet again...." With that, the slimy snake man vanishes in a puff of smoke.

Haruna waits for several moments until she knows for a fact that he has left, and breathes a sigh of relief. She slowly turns in the direction of the cave and begins to limp her way there.

Tears stream endlessly down her face as she recalls everything she can of her life. Her mother, the Leaf Village. Itachi and Sasuke, her best friends. The night everything changed. The day her mother died. Her father in the Valley Village...she begins to sob. She misses him dearly. Sometimes she had felt as though he didn't care about her...but looking back on it now, Haruna can find no evidence of such a thing. He was always so caring and gentle with her...he took excellent care of her. He put her through the finest schooling and taught her so much about being a Shinobi.

Haruna wraps her arms around herself as the feelings from her past life begin to surface. Masaki and Toshio...how she missed them. How she regretted ever going with Kabuto...searching that stupid haunted castle...she knows it's all her fault and it always will be.

Then, she recalls all the time she'd spent wishing for Sasuke to trust her as a friend, and to view her as one. It's a painful memory; one that leaves her feeling useless and pathetic each time she revisits it. She should have known that he didn't want her in his life anymore. People can change, no matter how much you wish they didn't. Just because they had been friends once doesn't mean they can still be friends now...not when he's changed so drastically and sealed himself off so tightly. No...Haruna should have known. Add that to the list of mistakes she's made.

Now, she's living in a cave as part of a criminal organization that still hasn't even informed her of what she's supposed to be doing or why she's there. She doesn't even know how to get out of the cave, because no one taught her the strange jutsu that everyone does to phase through the wall. She's been stuck there for three months with no sunshine or fresh air...the only thing she's done in there is paint her nails and sleep with Deidara once. Her face begins to heat up. _I still can't believe I actually did that...._

The only good thing she's done that she can think of, is rescuing Itachi and caring for him. In fact, it's all she lives for now.

Haruna realizes something then as she catches a glimpse of the glow from the broken cave wall and continues onward. She has nothing to live for when Itachi regains his sight. She'll just be useless again. No good for anyone. Sitting around without contributing anything to the world. She'll be stale and worthless. Just like she's always been.

She slows to a stop in the middle of the forest, her tears finally ceasing. Her chest suddenly feels hollow; her veins, empty and cold. There's nothing left for her but to rot away inside Kabuto's disgusting consciousness after he consumes her power. What kind of life is that?

_It's all wrong. It's broken. I'm a mistake, she realizes. I never should have been allowed to live...I shouldn't be here._

She slowly sinks to her knees and stares blankly at the ground. She's never felt so vacant and barren in her entire life. The only thing she can feel now through her numbness, is despair. And more than that--the desire to perish.

She mechanically slips her hand into the pouch of knives, extracting one. Slowly, she lifts it out of the bag and brings it closer to her. She eyes it for a little while before brandishing it and pointing it right at her throat, tilting her chin back just slightly. A tear slips down her cheek as she gives one last look at the people in her life and every mistake she's made. What a pathetic life she's lived. She swallows and shuts her eyes tightly, drawing back. She's ready to die. What else does she have left for her but death? Kabuto can't torture her if she's already dead. She's no use to anyone, besides. Haruna has had it with living. She nods to herself once, and says goodbye.

She then thrusts the knife forward, aiming straight for her trachea. She winces and prepares for pain, her arms trembling--

_Clang!_

The knife is knocked out of her hand by another one. Her eyes fly open and she searches around wildly for whoever had thrown it. Rage fills her so terribly that she can feel the eye on her forehead open almost immediately. She leaps to her feet as her vision enhances once more, grunting from the pounding in her head. She grabs another knife and moves to stab it into her side. It just punctures the skin when she feels someone's arm suddenly around her throat and a hand grab the knife and wrench it from her grasp. Haruna tries to scream, but the arm is strong and is pressed firmly against her throat, blocking any airflow in or out. Haruna's vision darkens as she struggles against the strong grip, kicking and flailing, clawing at the offending arm, but to no avail. Her body fills with panic and terror as it realizes its loss of air is not temporary, nor can she control it. She's really going to die if the person behind her doesn't let go. She begins to cry.

_But this is what you wanted. You were just about to die...were you not?_

The voice inside her is different...the first time she's ever heard it. It's smooth and feminine, with calm and yet menacing undertones. She can tell that it is not her own. It bewilders her, but before she can think about it anymore, she slowly succumbs to darkness, losing every sense one by one until she is completely faded.


	22. 最終的な準備 (Final Preparations)

A black figure stands silently in the dark of night, surrounded by endless bushes and trees. They hide him from prying eyes as he completes his transformation. In his arms, he holds a young girl of fifteen, body limp and still, and her long hair as deep as the night itself. Within her, she harbors something exceptionally powerful and precious to the figure. He stares down at her with his piercing, golden eyes for but a moment. A frown plays on his lips.

“Mother...forgive me,” he mutters, his voice a deep growl. “I didn’t want to hurt you...but I had to. It was the only way I could save you.” The corners of his mouth twitch ever so slightly. “Your host seems to be slowly losing her sense of self. Soon, you will be whole again.” He chuckles slowly, and then proceeds with his task, slowly spreading each molecule in his body apart, until he floats above the girl formlessly like an ebony liquid. He then lands on the young woman’s body and clings to it tightly, taking on her shape. He is now in total control of her.

After another menacing, satisfied laugh, he slowly rises to his feet, flexing each arm and clenching his fists. The girl’s body is limp underneath his grasp, making it easy to control.  _It’s working,_  he says to himself. Everything is going according to plan. With the girl’s shape and face covered by his inky blackness, no one will be able to recognize her, especially not Kabuto. No. He must not allow that boy to get his hands on her. The girl is precious and absolutely imperative to his plan. And with his end goal so close he can almost touch it, he cannot allow anything to get in the way. Especially not some sick snake like Kabuto.

“Well...at least, now that I can control her at all times, I have very little to worry about,” he says aloud as he makes his way through the forest. He heads far away from the cave. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he recalls that Itachi is blind and alone there, with no one to care for him or lead him about. Having been watching over the girl for several weeks now, he knows about everything she’d been up to. He chuckles to himself at this as he gathers his strength and leaps into the branches above. “I suppose I could go back there and finish him off…,” he muses as he leaps forward. “But, I have more pressing matters to attend to. He can rot there alone, for all I care.” A wicked cackle echoes throughout the forest then, as the black figure, now attached to someone new, vaults his way through the thick brush and to his destination, wherein lies his comrade; his partner in crime. The final preparations are about to begin.

\----------

“What took you so long?”

A single red eye slowly appears within the darkness of the cold cave as the black figure silently lands at its entrance. The voice which seeps slowly from its walls is melodious and low-toned; almost hypnotizing. The black figure, however, is immune to it. He steps into the cavern casually, a smirk ever resting upon his lips.

“Someone else decided to show up and join the fun,” the dark one replies, crossing his arms over his chest. “It took quite a while for him to leave. He just didn’t want to go.”

“Hmm,” the deeper voice hums, the red eye slowly closing. “You’re going to need a mask if you plan on going anywhere. You’ll be recognized right away if you don’t cover up her face.”

“I’m aware,” replies the black figure tersely. He steps over to the desk against the far wall. Above it hang several masks, all bearing a similar pattern. They’re all deep orange with some variation of a swirl etched upon them. These, however, have two eye holes rather than one. The black figure selects one from the wall and places it on his face.

“Her eyes are still showing,” the one by the wall notes.

“I’m aware of that, Tobi.” The other’s voice is none too polite. “There’s not much I can do about it.”

Tobi sighs lightly and leans against the wall, resting his eye. He’s tired, but does very little to show it. Things are beginning to happen now, and there’s hardly any time for rest. With war having already been declared, it’s only a matter of time before the enemy strikes. While he is confident, he wants to be sure all of the pieces are in place before anything major goes down. He  _must_  remain in control of this war at all times. The groundwork has been laid out for it; all he needs now is to set things into motion.

“Are you ready, Zetsu?” Tobi asks after a few moments of silence. His voice is calm, but as always, it harbors a bit of a menacing tone. Wherever he is, he assumes he is always in control, and his voice never fails to reflect that.

Zetsu adjusts the robe the girl underneath him is wearing until it sits just right upon his shoulders. He then grabs a tie from on the desk and pulls her hair back against her neck. He does what he can to change her appearance, making sure no one will recognize her. Not that there are too many people who know who she is, to begin with.

A sigh leaves him then as he shifts his eyes across the room to Tobi. “Yes,” he grumbles. “I am ready.”

“Perfect,” replies Tobi, whose dangerous scarlet orb flashes from the hole in his mask once more. He lifts himself off of the wall and makes his way towards the entrance.

Zetsu follows him quietly, and as the two stand outside of the cave, they gaze at the sky, which is painted with shades of orange and purple as the sun has begun to rise. It’s a beautiful sight, indeed.

The two care very little as they disappear from their places all at once. They head off in the direction of another secret hideout; one where another key piece in their plan resides, resting his eyes. Soon, he, too, will be unleashed upon the Shinobi Forces, and both men know that he will wreak havoc on them all. Yes, they have no doubt in their minds that they will win this war.

“...Tell me,” says Tobi after a long while as they continue to travel, “why did you take control of that girl? Didn’t you want her power to awaken on its own?”

Zetsu glances at his partner, whom he is keeping something from. His eyes narrow just a little as he struggles to come up with an explanation. He hasn’t thought of it before--what he will say if the question comes up. Perhaps he hadn’t foreseen Tobi being so forward...it’s not like him.

For the longest time, Tobi has known he is charge. He’s thought this way for decades. He’s the one who supposedly orchestrated the entire plan, start to finish...Zetsu, however, knows the truth. It’s  _his_  plan.  _His_  goal. And he will achieve it, through any means necessary. His objective is something different from Tobi’s--though it cannot happen without him. That is why, through it all, he’s “followed” Tobi’s orders and carried out all that he asked of him. Without Tobi, his ultimate goal, which he has sought to achieve for millennia, simply cannot be completed.

But none of that can be disclosed to the other. In order for this plan to work--for its very structure to keep from collapsing on itself--Tobi  _must_  remain convinced that he is in charge.

No legitimate-sounding excuse comes to mind, even as Zetsu continues to ponder over the possibilities. By now, the two men have landed in a small, desert-like basin with stone walls surrounding them on each side. Small windows are carved into its surface, though they do not open into the cave hidden behind it. It’s more for show. In the center of the basin is a large skeleton of some beast that lived long ago. Only its ribs remain, but they are very tall and rather hollow. It’s a large structure that serves as a landmark for the two. They know exactly where they are.

Tobi eyes the other suspiciously. He hasn’t answered, or said anything in a few minutes. It rings some bells in Tobi’s head. What could he be hiding? Finally, he stops and stares narrowly at Zetsu and his feminine form. It’s strange to see the girl he’d been watching over since birth now nearly fully grown and covered in inky blackness. It’s still a mystery to him why she had been so important that she’d needed an eye kept on her at all times. It had been Zetsu’s idea, though more of a suggestion than anything. Now, standing before her figure, he wonders what on earth she could have about her that would make her as special as Zetsu claims her to be. An enigma, truly.

Zetsu also stops, knowing he’ll have to face the music eventually. Perhaps he wanted a change? Maybe having control over the girl will allow for her power to activate at the precise moment it needs to? These seems like legitimate ideas. He opens his mouth to speak, but another voice pipes up, instead; snide and pretentious.

“Aha! Tobi! Let’s start with greetings, shall we?”

A hiss is heard, and the two men on the ground snap their gazes towards the one who had spoken. Atop the pile of bones stands a hooded figure, his cloak of an auburn color. From their distance, they can see his rounded glasses and scaly skin...from behind him, a tall snake wiggles around, hissing menacingly. The other end of it is nowhere to be seen, and it gives the illusion of it being the man’s tail...upon further inspection, this seems to be the case.

Zetsu recognizes him almost instantly as the man from before, who’d made a deal with Haruna. Kabuto. From behind the mask, a smirk plays on his lips. If only the hooded snake knew of who he was standing before….

“Oh--that’s right,” the man with the snake tail realizes aloud before either can speak. “I hear you’re going by Madara these days….”

Zetsu glances at Tobi, who is silent for a moment.

“...I’m impressed you found me,” he says at last, and Zetsu can clearly hear the disappointment in his tone. And something else...is it surprise? Regardless, the tone is something Zetsu has never heard come from the other. He’s always kept his composure no matter the circumstance. How interesting….

“You shouldn’t underestimate my volume of intel,” Kabuto states proudly, “from crisscrossing the land as a spy, and as a member of the Akatsuki.”

“That’s right--you were one of Sasori’s spies,” Tobi recalls, the same terse manner returning to his voice once more. “You’re a traitor to the Akatsuki!” With that, he immediately launches himself at the man to attack, giving him no room for explanation. Zetsu waits a moment before pursuing him, as well, drawing a kunai and brandishing it.

Kabuto, however, has other plans. Leaping backwards off of the skeleton, he lands on the ground gracefully, his snake tail following him in perfect sync. There’s no doubt from then on that it acts as his tail. As he sets himself upon the ground, he clasps his hands together. Instantly, the ground begins to tremble and quiver. Tobi and Zetsu stop dead in their tracks in front of him, bracing themselves as four strange wooden containers slowly rise from the ground. The front pieces fall off one by one, each revealing a grimy corpse behind them. Both masked men recognize them immediately.

“This is…,” Tobi begins to say--and Zetsu can hear the shock loud and clear. He gapes at the other, his gaze passing back and forth between those in the coffins and at his companion.

They both recognize the technique from their past experiences, but Zetsu is the one to utter it first: “The Reanimation Jutsu!”

“That’s right. It’s a forbidden jutsu known only to the second Hokage and Lord Orochimaru,” comes the snake’s voice from behind the coffins. He slithers around the furthest one and smiles proudly at the two. “Now I’m the third one to know.” The smugness is evident as he tells them, his smirk only growing. “I’ve surpassed those two in other ways, as well...this show was for  _your_ benefit, so you’d believe in my power and trust me.”

Zetsu slowly shakes his head as he stares at the corpses in disbelief. He cannot believe what he is seeing. How someone like  _him_  can figure out such a high-level, forbidden jutsu like this is beyond him. In all his years, he’s only seen it in action once. This will be his second time.

“Rest assured, I did not come here to fight you,” states the hooded one.

Zetsu glances at Tobi again, watching him as he stares at the other coldly.

“Then what do you want?” he asks darkly.

Zetsu can feel the anger and confusion radiating off of the other--he hates being caught off guard, hates when plans are suddenly changed. Zetsu knows it will take some time for him to warm up to this. But if he is offering this jutsu to them...it might prove useful.

“I want us to join forces,” Kabuto states, his tail hissing in an echo.

Zetsu’s eyes widen slowly, as do Tobi’s.  _There’s no way,_ Zetsu says to himself. _What could he want from us…._

“Join forces?” Tobi repeats in disbelief. “And just what would be in it for me?”

“I hear that you’re starting a war. I can offer you more strength in battle...in the form of Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Nagato.” He lists them off, taking a moment to glance pointedly at each of their corpses as he does so. Zetsu follows his gaze, staying silent.

“They’re all stalwart warriors,” Kabuto continues confidently, pointing his snake eyes directly at Tobi. “Also, they’re not the only ones that I possess.”

“And in return?” questions Tobi, his tone still terse and distrustful. Zetsu doesn’t blame him.

“I need two Sharingan; the best you have. There’s...a deal I’ve made with one of my subordinates, and they need a very specific pair of eyes. I’ve heard you have quite the supply of them.” HIs tone is taunting; matter-of-fact, as if he were hanging a piece of steak in front of a hungry dog. Rubbing it in Tobi’s face that he knows  _all_ about him.

Zetsu nearly recoils when he feels the rage emitting from the other increase tenfold. But after a moment, he realizes something--this is the deal he’d overheard Haruna making with Kabuto just over an hour ago. His smirk grows wider.

_What a conniving snake this one is._

“What are you plotting?” Tobi demands through gritted teeth.

“Nothing in particular,” Kabuto shrugs, “I merely have research that needs to be carried out. Questions that need answers. I will have them if I follow through with this deal.”

“And if I refuse?”

The auburn-clad man’s slithering tail wiggles about behind him, hissing softly. The man smirks and claps his hands together once more, and one more wooden crate emerges from below. Like before, the lid falls to the ground with a thud, revealing its contents. Only, this time, it’s something that catches them both off guard. Even Zetsu takes a step backwards in shock.

“W-wait...that’s--” Zetsu murmurs, but does not finish his statement. It’s so much to comprehend. The corpse he now finds himself looking upon is one he hasn’t seen in decades.

“What, did you honestly think I wouldn’t come prepared to a meeting with  _you_?” the snake man inquires haughtily. “See? You cannot refuse me.”

Tobi’s shoulders tense and his fists begin to curl into tight balls of anger. His tone is unharnessed and full of fury as he exclaims, “Why, you--where did you get that?!”

“Oh, I have my means. But--don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone else about this.”

The air is silent and still for a long while. Zetsu considers the situation carefully, now having a moment to think in peace. The deal that Kabuto is mentioning--Zetsu knows exactly who and what he wants. He knows it all. The very girl Kabuto’s attempting to win over is standing before him now, under Zetsu’s control. If he and Tobi were to give in to him, he would get his Sharingan, and in turn, Itachi would be healed, and Haruna would go with him. Or at least, that’s what Kabuto thinks. If Zetsu keeps his hold on her, and they fake their way through the deal, they can still get this extra help without necessarily needing to hand over the girl or the Sharingan. If Kabuto tries to fight them, Zetsu is sure he can eliminate him with ease. It seems reasonable enough, and Zetsu accepts it. Glancing over at Tobi, he figures he will draw the same conclusion, as well. He trusts him. Well--about as far as he can throw him. Which is still kind of far.

Finally, Tobi breaks the silence with his deep chuckles, his shoulders rattling as each one shakes his chest, and the ground below. It resonates through the basin, echoing off the mighty walls around them. Zetsu is hardly fazed.

Kabuto stares at him with narrowed eyes. “Did I say something funny?” he snaps.

“Kabuto Yakushi,” Tobi says after a moment, “I never would have imagined  _you_  would become such a...formidable vessel. Quarreling with you now would only lower my battle strength. You came here at the perfect opportunity...you are very clever.” His words seem like high praise, but his irritated tone does not reflect such sentiments.

Regardless, the snake only smirks. He knows he’s done well. He knows he’s got Tobi right where he wants him. Or so he thinks.

“So what’s your answer?” he asks, a smile in his voice.

“Very well, we’ll join forces...but I will only hand over the Sharingan after you’ve completed your role in the war.” Tobi nods at him.

“...You comprehend quickly,” notes Kabuto, seemingly disappointed. Only slightly. “As expected from Madara; your vessel is unique.”

“And you’re insolent,” Tobi snaps back at him, ignoring the compliment. He never did take kindly to flattery. “I’ll reformulate my battle strategy after I confirm your battle strength.” With that, he turns around and stalks towards the secret entrance to their hideout--their original destination. “Come along.”

Zetsu hangs back to watch Kabuto carefully as he smirks and sends his coffins away. A small chuckle leaves him, and he slithers towards Tobi without a word. Zetsu lets him pass before following behind him, making sure he can’t stare at his form for too long. Though he’s welcoming of this new addition to their numbers, the fact that  _Kabuto_  himself will be with them for quite a while is sort of alarming to him. Above all else, he must make sure his cover is not blown.

As the three enter the darkened hollow within the wall, they gaze over to the left to see the Uchiha boy seated atop a bench in the far corner. It’s hard to make out his form in the dim light, but the two who are masked know quite well who it is. After all, they are the ones who’ve been keeping him there all this time.

\--

From his perch in the corner, Sasuke Uchiha sits comfortably against the wall, his bandaged eyes closed loosely, not to be opened for a while. It’s hard, and a bit boring at times, to simply sit there and  _wait,_  but there’s not much else for him to do. And he knows more quite well what awaits him at the end of it all--power. Even more than he’s ever imagined. At least, that’s what Tobi had promised him.

He’d spent the last four years training relentlessly with only one goal in mind. But the moment he thought he’d finally reached that goal, it had been ripped from his hands. He had no control over it. He’d been so angry; absolutely enraged. He’d sworn to kill Haruna the next time he laid eyes on her, and he meant it. How dare she tear his one and only goal from his very hands?

But Tobi had told him the truth after that. The real reason for Itachi’s crimes, his attitude towards Sasuke. His actions. His true self had been revealed--and all Sasuke had been left with was regret and sorrow. He’d had no idea whether Itachi was alive or dead, though he had wished he could speak to him and hear the truth from his lips. He’d wanted to know if what the senile man in the mask had told him was really the truth. How he had hoped it was.

Moreover, he had come to realize that Haruna had saved him from a world of heartache. If Sasuke really had killed his brother and then learned the truth--well, the very idea nearly rips him to shreds. He cannot fathom how much pain he would be in right now if that had been the case. He had also finally comprehended, on a deeper level, how Haruna must have felt when she’d heard that Itachi had killed the clan instead of her. Before she’d even gotten the chance. To live your life for something--with only one goal in mind, which you strive day and night to achieve--only to have it seized from your grasp so suddenly...it hurts something awful. It can hardly be put into words.

Now that Sasuke has been enlightened, his once spiteful feelings towards the girl who’d used to be his best friend, have changed completely. In fact...he knows he needs to apologize to her. However, he has strong doubts he will ever meet her again. He fears something might happen to her during this war. He also doubts that Itachi had made it out alive...he’d already been close to death when Haruna had taken him. There’s simply no logical way Itachi could have survived, knowing Haruna’s skill level with Medical Ninjutsu. That’s two more people he’s lost. He feels hollow and empty, like a mere shell of a man, with no purpose or reason for existing. But for now, though he is spiraling and straying, he decides to stay on his current path, for he knows nothing else.

So it comes as a huge surprise when he is suddenly overwhelmed by the presence of two more people than he had been expecting...the one in particular. He straightens slowly in his place as they enter, and he feels his chest tighten ever so slightly. His palms begin to sweat, and he gently curls them into his robe to dry them.

_Haruna.... She’s...here?!_

He says nothing as they approach him, waiting to see if she will notice him first. He stays dead silent in his spot, unmoving and hardly breathing. He feels like he can hardly take a breath, to begin with. His pulse thuds steadily in his ears, though it begins to climb as they near him. He can’t come up with any logical reason as to why she would be here, of all places.

“Ah, Sasuke,” comes Tobi’s deep voice at last. “How are you faring?”

“Sasuke? Is that you?”

Sasuke jumps when Kabuto’s disgusting voice slices through the air and slithers its way into his ears. He shudders slightly, though none of the others can see.  _Not him, too._

“I’m alright,” is all the boy says in reply. He tenses as he waits for the girl he knows is there to speak up, but nothing comes from her. “...Kabuto,” he snaps after a moment. “What are  _you_  doing here?”

“Oh. Madara and I have decided to join forces,” Kabuto states proudly.

Sasuke’s shoulders droop. He grits his teeth as he thinks up several curse words that may possibly describe how he is feeling at the current moment. None of them leave his mouth.

“That’s right,” Zetsu’s voice rolls into the conversation like gravel. “He’s offered something very useful. We couldn’t refuse.”

Sasuke pauses, waiting with bated breath for the girl to speak up. Still, she says nothing. The boy frowns in confusion, clenching the fabric tighter. Is she ignoring him? Is she still mad at him for insulting her that time? What could possibly be keeping her from speaking up now? That girl does not know the definition of the word ‘silent.’ So how is she keeping so quiet?

 _Have they knocked her out?_ Worry suddenly fills him, but he does not show it.

“I see,” is his belated reply. Thinking carefully, he chooses his next words with caution. “...Tell me,” he begins, wetting his lips as his brain works hard to screen each and every syllable before they exit his mouth. He cannot cause suspicion. Nor does he want Tobi to know the true extent his sensory abilities, even without his Sharingan. “Were you followed? Or am I just imagining the fourth presence here before me?”

Dead silence is all that follows for a while. Sasuke grows impatient--and worried--as each second passes without a single noise, let alone a reply. He reassesses his observation and is surprised and dismayed to find that he can no longer sense the girl’s presence. The frown grows deeper and his heart sinks to the floor.

“...Nevermind,” Sasuke snarls bitterly before anyone can answer. “I must have been mistaken. I only sense three of you now.”

The black one smirks wildly from behind his mask. The child is definitely too smart for his own good--but once again, he had been able to fool him.

“Now, Sasuke, I haven’t the faintest idea what you could be going on about,” Kabuto tells the boy in a rather condescending tone. “There are just the three of us here.  _Believe me,_  I would have already known if someone had followed us. So you needn’t worry.”

Sasuke feels a flicker of rage within him, but he says nothing, keeping his cool. He  _knows_  what he’d felt. It frustrates him to no end that he cannot use his Sharingan to discern what is going on, but decides to let it go for now. He can assess everything later, when his eyes have finished healing. When he gains his true power. No matter what Tobi’s plans may be, Sasuke still has his own...he has questions that need answers, and people he needs to save. So there he sits, silently waiting. He knows the time will come. Soon.  


End file.
